Advancement of women

W o m e n 6 1 5

Chapter XIII

W o m e n

In 1988, the United Nations continued the im-

plementat ion of the Nairobi Forward-looking

Strategies for the Advancement of Women,

adopted in 1985 to overcome obstacles to the goals

and objectives of the United Nations Decade for

Women (1976-1985).

At its March session, the Commission on the

Status of Women considered several issues con-

cerning women and development, including the

economic aspects of women in development and

the problems of rural women. It recommended a

number of draft resolutions and decisions for

adoption by the Economic and Social Council. On

the recommendat ion of the Commission, the

Council, in May, endorsed a comprehensive re-

porting system to monitor, review and appraise the

implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies

(resolution 1988/22). The system was also en-

dorsed by the General Assembly in December

(resolution 43/101) when it emphasized the impor-

tance of integrating women into the development

process and called on Member States to establish

targets to increase women’s participation in profes-

sional and decision-making positions in their

countries.

In July, the Council urged Governments to pro-

vide women with adequate education and train-

ing facilities and requested United Nations devel-

opment agencies to pay particular attention to the

role of women in rural development, especially in

the areas of food, water supply, access to credit fa-

cilities and appropriate technologies (1988/29).

The United Nations Development Fund for

Women continued to provide resources for plans

and projects in developing regions in two priority

areas-serving as a catalyst to ensure women’s in-

volvement in development activities and support-

ing innovative and experimental activities benefit-

ing women. In December, the Assembly stressed

the importance of strengthening the Fund’s tech-

nical and financial capacities and invited Govern-

ments and others to consider making substantial

contributions (43/102).

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimi-

nation against Women considered 11 initial reports

and two second periodic reports of States parties

to the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All

Forms of Discrimination against Women on their

implementation of the Convention. By the end of

the year, the Convention had received 95 signa-

Advancement of women

tures and 95 accessions.out measures for their immediate implementation and

Implementation of the Nairobi Strategies

In response to a 1987 request of the General As-

sembly,( 1 )

the Secretary-General, in September

1988,(2)

submitted a report on the implementation

of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the

Advancement of Women, adopted in 1985 by the

World Conference to Review and Appraise the

Achievements of the United Nations Decade for

Women.(3)

The report discussed action taken by the

organizations of the United Nations system to im-

plement the Strategies through monitoring and re-

view and appraisal (see below); the Commission

on the Status of Women (see below); separate pro-

grammes for the advancement of women; steps to

ensure the equalization of opportunities for disabled

women; the establishment of new five-year targets

at each level for the percentage of women in Profes-

sional posts and decision-making positions; and de-

velopment of a public information strategy on is-

sues relating to women.

The report also reviewed the priority themes for

consideration by the Commission on the Status of

Women in 1989 dealing with equality (equality in

economic and social participation); development

(women and education, eradication of illiteracy, em-

ployment, health and social services, including popu-

lation issues and child care); and peace (full par-

ticipation of women in the construction of their

countries and in the creation of just social and po-

litical systems).

GENERAL ASSEMBLY ACTION

On 8 December 1988, on the recommendation

of the Third (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural)

Committee, the General Assembly adopted reso-

lut ion 43/101 without vote.Implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking

Strategies for the Advancement of Women

The General Assembly,

Recalling all its relevant resolutions, in particular reso-lutions 43/108 of 13 December 1985 and 42/62 of 30November 1987, in which. inter alia, it endorsed theNairobi Forward-looking Strategies for’ the Advancementof Women for the period up to the year 2000 and set

6 1 6 Economic and social questions

for the overall achievement of the goals and objectives

of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, De-

velopment and Peace,

Taking into consideration Economic and Social Council reso-

lutions 1987/18, 1987/19, 1987/20, 1987/21, 1987/22,

1987/23, 1987/24, 1987/25 and 1987/26 of 26 May 1987

and 1988/19, 1988/21, 1988/22 and 1988/29 of 26 May 1988,

Recalling the Guiding Principles for Developmental Social

Welfare Policies and Programmes in the Near Future,

adopted by the Interregional Consultation on Develop-

mental Social Welfare-Policies and Programmes, held

at Vienna from 7 to 15 September 1987.

Noting with concern the serious impact of the world eco-

nomic situation on the programmes and plans for the

advancement of women, especially in the global context,

Conscious of the important and constructive contribu-

tion to the advancement of the status of women made

by the Commission on the Status of Women, the spe-

cialized agencies, the regional commissions and other

organizations of the United Nations system. Member

States and intergovernmental and non-governmental or-

ganizations,

Emphasizing once again the priority of the implementa-

tion, monitoring, review and appraisal of the Forward-

looking Strategies,

Welcoming the significant progress made by the Com-

mission at its special session in 1987 in restructuring its

agenda along functional lines, developing the systematic

long-term programme of work and strengthening its role

and functions, and noting the outcome of the thirty second

session of the Commission. held at Vienna from 14 to

23 March 1988, and, in particular, Economic and So-

cial Council resolutions 1988/19, 1988/21, 1988/22 and

1988/29,

Taking note of Economic and Social Council resolutions

on issues relating to women,

Welcoming the designation by the Secretary-General of

the advancement of women as one of the priorities of the

organization for the biennium 1988-1989,

Recognising the need for the Commission to consider

at its regular sessions the priority themes for its next five

sessions, contained in the annex to Economic and So-

cial Council resolution 1987/24,

1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General con-

cerning the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking

Strategies for the Advancement of Women;

2. Recalls resolutions 1, 2 and 4 adopted by the Com-

mission on the Status of Women at its special session in

1987, in particular its recommendation that the implemen-

tation of the Forward-looking Strategies and the status

of women in general should be incorporated as one of

the priorities in the introduction of the organization’s

medium-term plan for the period 1992-1997:

3. Reaffirms the need for the Forward-looking Strategies

to be translated immediately into concrete action by

Governments, as determined by overall national priori-

ties. as well as by the organizations of the United Na-

tions system, the specialized agencies and intergovern-

mental and non-governmental organizations;

4. Reaffirms also the central role of the Commission

in matters related to the advancement of women and calls

upon it to promote the implementation of the Forward-

looking Strategies to the year 2000 based on the goals


velopment and Peace and the subtheme “Employment,

Health and Education”, and urges all organizations of

the United Nations system to co-operate with the Com-

mission in this task;

5. Endorses Economic and Social Council resolution

1988/19, in which, infer alia, the Council decided that the

duration of the thirty-fourth session of the Commission,

to be held in 1990, should be extended to ten days;

6. Reaffirms further, in the implementation of the

Forward-looking Strategies, the role of the Centre for

Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs of the

Secretariat, in particular the Division for the Advance-

ment of Women, as the substantive secretariat of the Com-

mission and as a focal point for matters on women, the

catalysing role of the United Nations Development Fund

for Women and the role of the International Research

and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women

in the promotion of the role of women in the context of

the participation of women in development;

7. Requests the relevant United Nations bodies to con-

tinue to provide focused and action-oriented input when

reporting to the Commission on the priority themes;

8. Endorses the comprehensive reporting system to mon-

itor, review and appraise the implementation of the

Forward-looking Strategies, as outlined in the annex to

Economic and Social Council resolution 1988/22, which

will assist Member States in identifying problems and

in developing remedial measures at the national, regional

and international levels, and invites Governments and

the organizations of the United Nations system, including

the regional commissions and the specialized agencies,

to report accordingly, through the Commission, to the

Economic and Social Council;

9. Emphasizes, in the framework of the Forward-looking

Strategies, the importance of the total integration of women

in the development process, bearing in mind the specific

and urgent needs of the developing countries, and calls

upon Member States to establish specific targets at each

level in order to increase the participation of women in

professional and decision-making positions in their

countries;

10. Emphasizes also the need to give urgent attention

to redressing socio-economic inequities at the national

and international levels as a necessary step towards the

full realization of the goals and objectives of the Forward-

looking Strategies;

11. Urges that particular attention be given by the

United Nations and Governments to the situation of dis-

abled women, and that Governments take steps to en-

sure the equalization of opportunities and social justice

for and political participation of disabled women in each

sector of society;

12. Endorses Economic and Social Council resolution

1988/29, in which the Council requested the Secretary-

General to convene a seminar on women and rural de-

velopment, using the resources available in the Trust Fund

for the Preparatory Activities of the 1985 World Con-

ference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the

United Nations Decade for Women established under

Council decision 1983/132;

13. Endorses also Economic and Social Council reso-

lution 1988/21, in which the Council recommended that

in updating the World Survey on the Role of Women in Devel-opment, particular emphasis should be given to those factors

that contribute to the deteriorating status of women in

developing countries, as well as Economic and Social

Council resolution 1988/49 of 26 July 1988, in which the

Council called upon the Secretary-General to devote a

W o m e n 6 1 7

separate section in the World Economic Survey to economic

aspects of the situation of women and their contribu-

tion to economic development;

14. Requests the Commission to explore, at its thirty-

third session, the possibility of holding, during the period1990-1991, an interregional consultation on women in

public life;

15. Once again calls upon the Secretary-General and the

executive heads of the specialized agencies and otherUnited Nations bodies to establish five-year targets ateach level for the percentage of women in Professionaland decision-making positions, in accordance with thecriteria established by the General Assembly, in partic-ular that of equitable geographical distribution, in orderthat a definite upward trend in the implementation of

Assembly resolution 41/206 D of 11 December 1986 beregistered in the number of Professional and decision-making positions held by women by 1990, and to set

additional targets every five years;

16. Requests the Secretary-General to invite Govern-ments, organizations of the United Nations system, in-

cluding the regional commissions and the specializedagencies, and intergovernmental and non-governmental

organizations to report periodically to the Economic andSocial Council, through the Commission, on activitiesundertaken at all levels to implement the Forward-looking Strategies;

17. Also requests the Secretary-General to include inhis report to the General Assembly at its forty-fourthsession on the implementation of the Forward-lookingStrategies an assessment of recent developments that are

relevant to the priority themes to be considered at thefollowing session of the Commission and to transmit tothe Commission a summary of relevant views expressedby delegations during the Assembly’s debate;

18. Further requests the Secretary-General to report tothe General Assembly at its forty-fourth session on meas-ures taken to implement the present resolution;

19. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to pro-vide for the existing weekly radio programmes onwomen in the regular budget of the United Nations, withadequate provisions for broadcasts in different lan-

guages, and to develop the focal point for issues relat-ing to women in the Department of Public Information

of the Secretariat, which, in concert with the Centre for

Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs, should

provide a more effective public information programme

relating to the advancement of women;

20. Decides to consider these questions further at itsforty-fourth session under the item entitled “Forward-

looking strategies for the advancement of women to theyear 2000”.

General Assembly resolution 43/101

8 D e c e m b e r 1 9 8 8 M e e t i n g 7 5 A d o p t e d w i t h o u t v o t e

Approved by Third Committee (A/43/813) without vote, 11 November (meet-

ing 40); draft by Tunisia. for Group of 77 (A/C.3/43/L.23), orally revised;

agenda item 95.

Meeting numbers. GA 43rd session: 3rd Committee 15, 23-30, 36,40; ple-

nary 75.

Monitoring, review and appraisal

In September,(2)

the Secretary-General reported

on action taken by the organizations of the United

Nations system to monitor the review and appraisal

of progress in the advancement of women.

The Economic and Social Council, by resolu-

tion 1988/22 (see below), had modified the reporting

system proposed by the Secretary-General in Janu-

ary(4)

to form part of a two-year cycle of system-

wide monitoring of progress in implementing the

Strategies, and established a five-year cycle for re-

view and appraisal. The reporting system aimed

at simplifying the substantive aspects of monitor-

ing at the global and regional levels and to extend

the review and appraisal at the national level to the

whole of the Strategies.

For national monitoring purposes, the United

Nations Statistical Office completed a women’s in-

dicators and statistical data base in co-operation

with the Branch for the Advancement of Women

of the United Nations Centre for Social Develop-

ment and Humanitarian Affairs at Vienna and the

statistical services of the International Labour Or-

ganisation (ILO), the Food and Agriculture Organi-

zation of the United Nations, the United Nations

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

and the World Health Organization. The data con-

tained over 200 statistical series and indicators for

monitoring the situation of women in conformity

with the Decade’s goals and objectives, the im-

plementation of the Strategies and the priority

themes. The Compendium of Statistics and Indicators on

the Situation of Women-1986 was prepared using the

data base.

On 28 June 1988, the Secretary-General circu-

lated, for the first review and appraisal, a question-

naire to Member States to be returned in early 1989.

The first part of the questionnaire consisted of a

summary for implementation of the Strategies and

the second presented an outline of a national re-

port, including an executive summary.

The Secretary-General noted that systematic

monitoring and review and appraisal aspects were

being incorporated into the operational activities

of the United Nations system and many organi-

zations were elaborating specific procedures.

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL ACTION

On 26 May 1988, the Economic and Social Coun-

cil, on the recommendation of its Second (Social)

Committee, adopted resolution 1988/22 without

vote.

Establishment of a comprehensive reporting system

to monitor, review and appraise the

implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking


The Economic and Social Council,

Reaffirming the importance attached by the World Con-ference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of theUnited Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Develop-

ment and Peace to monitoring, review and appraisal as

outlined in the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for

the Advancement of Women,

6 1 8 Economic and soc ia l ques t ions

Bearing in mind the guidelines set out in its resolution

1987/18 of 26 May 1987, which the Secretary-General

was requested to take into account in further develop-

ing and implementing the reporting system to monitor,

review and appraise progress in the advancement of

women,

Recalling its resolution 1987/22 of 26 May 1987, in which

it decided to expand the terms of reference of the Com-

mission on the Status of Women to include the functions

of promoting the objectives of equality, development and

peace, monitoring the implementation of measures for

the advancement of women, and reviewing and appraising

progress made at the national, subregional, regional, sec-

toral and global levels,

Reaffirming the request made by the General Assem-

bly, in its resolution 42/62 of 30 November 1987, that

the Secretary-General invite Governments, organizations

of the United Nations system, including the regional com-

missions and the specialized agencies, and intergovern-

mental and non-governmental organizations to report

periodically to the Economic and Social Council, through

the Commission, on activities undertaken at all levels

to implement the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies,

Reaffirming the appropriateness of a two-year cycle of

system-wide monitoring of progress made in implementing

the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies and a five-year

cycle of longer-term review and appraisal to continue the

cycle established by the World Conference,

Recognizing that effective monitoring, review and ap-

praisal should be conducted at the national, regional,

sectoral and international levels to achieve optimal results,

Mindful of the need to avoid duplication of reporting

obligations, in view of the burden that coexisting reporting

systems place on Member States, especially those with

limited resources, and in view of the financial stringen-

cies facing the United Nations system,

1. Endorses the comprehensive reporting system to mon-

itor, review and appraise the implementation of the Nairobi

Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of

Women, set out in the annex to the present resolution;

2. Decides that its intergovernmental subsidiary bodies,

including the regional commissions, should monitor, as

necessary, the follow-up to their recommendations relating

to the advancement of women;

3. Requests the Secretary-General to include the reso-

lutions of those bodies in the report requested by the

General Assembly in resolution 42/178 of 11 December

1987 and the results of their monitoring activities in his

biennial report to the Commission on the Status of Women

on monitoring the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies;

4. Also requests the Secretary-General to invite Govern-

ments and intergovernmental and non-governmental or-

ganizations to report to the Economic and Social Council,

through the Commission, on monitoring, review and ap-

praisal of progress at all levels in the implementation of

the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies, in the manner

set out in the annex to the present resolution;

5. Decides that the biennial reports of the Secretary-

General on monitoring of progress made by the organi-

zations of the United Nations system in the implemen-

tation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies should

be considered by the Commission in even-numbered years,

beginning in 1990;

6. Also decides that, for the purpose of monitoring pro-

gress at the national level, the Secretary-General should,

within existing resources, make available a summary com-

pilation of available statistical indicators relating to the

implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies

and submit a progress report on national reporting of

statistics and indicators on women to the Commission

in odd-numbered years, beginning in 1989;

7. Urges the organizations of the United Nations system

to incorporate in their regular work programmes, as neces-

sary, monitoring, review and appraisal of the implemen-

tation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies and to

submit reports thereon to their governing bodies;

8. Decides that the first quinquennial report on review

and appraisal of the implementation of the Nairobi

Forward-looking Strategies will be considered by the Com-

mission at its thirty-fourth session, in 1990, and that sub-

sequent reports will be considered in 1995 and 2000, so

as to continue the five-year cycle of reporting established

during the United Nations Decade for Women;

9. Encourages Member States to make use of the reports

prepared for the Committee on the Elimination of Dis-

crimination against Women and other relevant interna-

tional bodies in the preparation of the quinquennial re-

v iew and appra i sa l repor t s , in order to min imize

duplication of effort;

10. Encourages the provision of technical assistance to

national machinery for the advancement of women and

the sharing of support and expertise among such machiner-

ies, particularly those in developing countries, to facili-

tate the preparation of the national reports for the quin-

quennial review and appraisal;

11. Requests the Commission to make action-oriented

recommendations for the further implementation of the

Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies following the quin-

quennial review and appraisal;

12. Decides that, after consideration by the Commis-

sion, the monitoring, review and appraisal reports should

be made available to the General Assembly so that the

Assembly may be kept informed of progress in the im-

plementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies.

A N N E X

Comprehensive reporting system to monitor, review and

appraise the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking


I. Biennial monitoring of progress made by the

organizations of the United Nations system

1. The Secretary-General should prepare biennial

reports on monitoring of the implementation of the Nairobi

Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women

by the organizations of the United Nations system, in-

cluding monitoring at the regional level. The reports should

address the three interrelated and mutually reinforcing

objectives of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies: equal-

ity, development and peace. Each objective should be re-

ported on separately, as appropriate.

2. An introductory commentary should be included

covering the basic strategies, relevant institutions, mandates

and programmes of action employed to advance each ob-

jective.

3. An account of measures taken for the implemen-

tation of the basic strategies for international and regional

co-operation set out in chapter V of the Nairobi Forward-

looking Strategies should be included under each objective.

4. The reports should contain specific information on:

(a) Measures to ensure the integration of the Nairobi

Forward-looking Strategies in the programmes of the or-

W o m e n 6 1 9

ganizations of the United Nations system, including meas-

ures to strengthen institutional co-ordination and focal

points on the status of women;

(b) Progress made by each organization in establishing

and meeting five-year targets at each level for the per-

centage of women in professional and decision-making

positions, as called for by the General Assembly.

5 . Repor t s should be prepared accord ing to a

standardized format.

6. In order to minimize duplication of effort, the bien-

nial monitoring reports should make use of reports pre-

pared to meet other reporting requirements, inter alia, any

other reports required under sub programme 5A of the

proposed revisions to the medium-term plan for 1984-

1989 to cover the period 1990-1991, the biennial reports

requested by the General Assembly in resolution 42/178

of 11 December 1987 and reports on the improvement

of the status of women in the United Nations Secretariat,

as requested by the General Assembly.

II. Quinquennial review and appraisal

7. The quinquennial review and appraisal will be

based on responses from Member States to a question-

naire on the progress achieved in the implementation

of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies, including an

assessment of the effectiveness of methods and programmes

introduced and an account of new programmes planned

as a result of the national review and appraisal.

8. The national reports should address the three in-

terrelated and mutually reinforcing objectives of the

Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies: equality, develop-

ment and peace. Each objective should be monitored and

reported on separately.

9. Each national report should include an introductory

commentary covering the basic strategies and programmes

of action employed to advance each objective and a re-

view and appraisal of their effectiveness.

10. The national reports should include, under each

of the three objectives, an account of measures taken to

implement the basic strategies for international and

regional co-operation set out in paragraphs 356 to 365

of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies.

11. The questionnaires should be simple and direct

and structured according to the Nairobi Forward-looking

Strategies.

12. The national reports should include an account

of the measures taken to meet relevant international stand-

ards, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All

Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Interna-

tional Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of

Racial Discrimination and the conventions of the Inter-

national Labour Organisation.

13. Non-governmental bodies should be invited to

submit reports for the quinquennial review and appraisal.

14. The biennial statistical reports provided by the

Secretary-General to the Commission on the Status of

Women for monitoring progress at the national level should

be consolidated and made available to the Commission

for the quinquennial review and appraisal.

15. Every five years, the Commission should review

its conclusions on priority themes on the basis of a com-

pilation of relevant resolutions and should select priority

themes for the following five-year period.

16. Reports of Member States to relevant interna-

tional supervisory bodies, such as the Committee on the

Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Com-

mittee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the

International Labour Organisation and the United Nations

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and

the World Survey on the Role of Women in Development should

be made available in a consolidated form to the Com-

mission on the Status of Women for consideration in the

quinquennial review and appraisal.

17. Reports prepared by the regional commissions

on changes in the situation of women within their re-

gion, as requested by the General Assembly in resolu-

tion 42/178, should be made available to the Commis-

sion every five years for the review and appraisal.

Economic and Social Council resolution 1988/22

26 May 1988 Meeting 15 Adopted without vote

Approved by Second Committee (E/1988/90) without vote, 13 May (meet-

ing 9); draft by Commission on women (E/1988/15/Rev.1); agenda item 11.

1990 sess ion of the

Commiss ion on the Sta tus of Women

On the recommendation of its Second Committee,

the Economic and Social Council, on 26 May 1988,

adop ted reso lu t ion 1988 /19 wi thou t vo te .

Session of the Commission on the Status of Women

in 1990 to review and appraise progress in the

implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking


The Economic and Social Council,Recalling its resolution 1987/20 of 26 May 1987, in which

it recommended that an extended session of the Com-

mission on the Status of Women be held in 1990, at which

Member States would be represented at a high level, in

order to review and appraise progress in the implemen-

tation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the

Advancement of Women,

Bearing in mind its resolution 1987/24 of 26 May 1987,

in which it endorsed the priority themes to be consid-

ered at the next five sessions of the Commission, regardless

of any process of review and appraisal that might take place,

Considering the importance of the review and appraisal

process to the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-

looking Strategies in accordance with General Assem-

bly resolution 40/108 of 13 December 1985, and of the

role of non-governmental organizations in that process,

Recalling its resolution 1987/18 of 26 May 1987, in which

it established a five-year cycle of review and appraisal

of progress in the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-

looking Strategies,

Recognizing the role of non-governmental organizations

in contributing to the preparations for the session of the

Commission in 1990,

Bearing in mind its resolution 1988/22 of 26 May 1988

on the establishment of a comprehensive reporting sys-

tem to monitor, review and appraise the implementa-

tion of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies,

Concerned about the limited time and resources avail-

able to the Commission and Governments to prepare for

the session in 1990,

1. Decides that the duration of the thirty-fourth session

of the Commission on the Status of Women, to be held

in 1990, shall be ten days, in order that the Commission

may review and appraise progress made by Governments,

international organizations and non-governmental or-

ganizations in the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-

looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women;


2. Requests the Secretary-General to provide additional

interpretation facilities, within available resources, so that

the Commission may establish a subsidiary body dur-

ing its thirty-fourth session, in order to make maximum

use of the time available;

3. Decider that the Commission should review prepa-

rations for the 1990 review and appraisal at its thirty-

third session, under the agenda item entitled “Monitoring

and implementation of the Nairobi Ford-looking Strate-

gies for the Advancement of Women”;

4. Also decides that the documentation for the 1990 re-

view and appraisal should be prepared according to the

requirements of the comprehensive reporting system set

out in Council resolution 1988/22 and according to the

provisional agenda outlined in the annex to the present

resolution;

5. Encourages Governments to provide responses of high

quality to the questionnaire on which the review and ap-

praisal will be based;

6. Proposes that assistance be made available to Govern-

ments, on request, for the preparation of their responses

to the questionnaire;

7. Requests the live regional commissions to hold, within

available resources, regional review and appraisal meetings

in preparation for the global review and appraisal;

8. Invites non-governmental organizations in consul-

tative status with the Economic and Social Council to

submit their views, in writing, on their contribution to

the 1990 session of the Commission, for presentation in

consolidated form to the Commission at its thirty-third

session;

9. Recommends that in 1990 the Commission make a

recommendation to the General Assembly on the con-

vening of a world conference to review and appraise pro-

gress in the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking

Strategies.

ANNEXOutline of the provisional agenda for the thirty-fourth

session of the Commission on the Status of Women

1. Programming and co-ordination matters

2. Priority themes

3. Review and appraisal of the implementation of the

Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advance-

ment of Women:

(a) Progress at the national level;

(b) Progress at the regional level;

(c) Progress at the international level;

(d) Conclusions and recommendations



Approved by Second Committee (E/1988/90) without vote 13 May (meet-


Programme planning

The Commission on the Status of Women, at its

March session, had before it a note by the Secretary-

General on programme planning and co-ordination

matters.( 5 )

He stated that the first stage for imple-

m e n t i n g t h e s y s t e m - w i d e m e d i u m - t e r m p l a n f o r

women and development was for each organiza-

t ion of the Uni ted Nat ions sys tem to incorpora te

that plan, as appropriate, into its own medium-term

proposals. (For details on the system-wide medium-

term plan , see be low under “Women and devel -

o p m e n t ” . )


On 26 May 1988, on the recommendation of its

Second Committee, the Economic and Social Coun-

c i l adop ted reso lu t ion 1988/18 wi thou t vo te .

Programme planning and activities

to advance the status of women


Reaffirming the high priority that Member States at-

tach to activities to advance the status of women,

Welcoming the priority given by the Secretary-General

to the advancement of women in the programme budget

for the biennium 1988-1989,

Noting the important roles played by the Commission

on the Status of Women and the Committee on the Elimi-

nation of Discrimination against Women in achieving

the global equality of women,

Concerned that activities to advance the status of women

should not suffer disproportionately from the impact of

restructuring and retrenchment measures,

Stressing the need to ensure that budgetary resources

allocated to activities for the advancement of women are

commensurate with the priorities of Governments,

Referring to the reports of the Secretary-General on pro-

gramme planning matters pertaining to the status of

women,

I . Medium-te rm p lanning mat te rs

1. Reiterates the recommendation made by the Com-

mission on the Status of Women that the Secretary-General

should identify the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-

looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women and

the status of women in general as a global priority for

the period 1990-1995 in the introduction to the next

medium-term plan;

2. Requests the Secretary-General, in preparing his

proposals for the next medium-term plan, to formulate

a separate major programme on the advancement of

women, which should include the four existing or pro-

posed sub programmes of the global social development

issues programme which relate to women and incorporate

the intersectoral presentation of activities called for by

the General Assembly in resolution 40/108 of 13 December

1985;

I I . P rogramme budge t mat te r s

1. Decides that the Secretary-General’s proposed pro-

gramme budget for the biennium 1990-1991 and sub se-

quent programme budgets should provide for full funding

from the regular budget for the implementation of all

aspects of legislative mandates for the advancement of

women;

2. Also decides that the Trust Fund for the Prepara-

tory Activities for the 1985 World Conference to Review

and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations

Decade for Women. established by the Secretary-General

pursuant to Economic and Social Council decision

1983/132 of 26 May 1983, should be continued on an in-

terim basis for the biennium 1988-1989 as a special trust

fund for the monitoring, review and appraisal of the im-

plementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies

for the Advancement of Women, for the purpose of facilitat-

6 2 1W o m e n

ing global exchange of information, enhancing the prepa-ration of the work of the Commission on the Status of

Women regarding priority themes, and disseminating

the results of its discussions of those themes and on

monitoring, review and appraisal to a wider audience,

in conformity with paragraph 1 of section I above;

3. Recommends that the Trust Fund maintain a close

and continuous relationship with other United Nations

organs, in particular the United Nations Development

Fund for Women, with a view to avoiding duplication;

4. Requests the Secretary-General to submit a report

on the future of the Trust Fund to the Commission on

the Status of Women at its thirty-third session;

5. Reiterates the recommendation made by the Com-

mission that the Secretary-General should accord the

highest priority in the programme budget for the bien-nium 1988-1989 to the programme elements concerned

with policy development in support of the Commission

and include activities to that end in the sub programme

on the participation of women in promoting international

peace and co-operation;

6. Reaffirms the view of the Commission, as expressedin its resolution 32/l of 16 March 1988, on the level of

resources necessary to implement its mandates effectivelyand efficiently, expressed in its submission to the Spe-

cial Commission of the Economic and Social Councilon the In-depth Study of the United Nations Intergovern-

mental Structure and Functions in the Economic and

Social Fields;

7. Recommends that the Branch for the Advancement

of Women be renamed the Division for the Advancement

of Women, such a change to be carried out without finan-cial implications.

Economic and Soc ia l Counc i l r e so lu t ion 1988 /18




System-wide co-ordination

The twelfth ad hoc inter-agency meeting on

women (Vienna, 24-29 March 1988)( 6 )

recom-

mended that the Administrative Committee on

Co-ordination (ACC) request its subsidiary bod-

ies dealing with substantive, operational and per-

sonnel questions to include regularly in their

a g e n d a s t h e i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f t h e N a i r o b i

Forward-looking Strategies, together with other

measures to advance the status of women. The

meeting also adopted recommendations on pri-

ority themes of the Commission in 1989 (see

above) and 1990, the system-wide medium-term

plan for women and development (see below) and

the update of the world survey on women in de-

velopment (see below). The ACC Consultative

Commit tee on Substant ive Quest ions (CCSQ)

(Programme Matters) (New York, 3-5 October)(7)

took note of the meeting’s recommendations.

In January,(8)

the Secretary-General submitted

a report to the Committee for Programme and Co-

ordination (CPC) on the scope and general ap-

proach of a 1989 cross-organizational programme

analysis on the activities of the United Nations sys-

tem related to the advancement of women (see

below).


On 26 May 1988, the Economic and Social

Council, by decision 1988/122, decided to defer

until its second regular session consideration of a

four-part draft resolution, recommended by the

Commission on the Status of Women,(9)

concern-

ing system-wide co-ordination of activities to ad-

vance the status of women and to integrate women

in development.

On 27 July, on the recommendation of its Third

(Programme and Co-ordination) Committee, the

Council adopted resolutions 1988/60 C and D.

Resolution 1988/60 C was adopted without vote.

Inter-agency co-ordination in implementing

the Nairobi Forward-looking



Recalling its resolutions 1985/46 of 31 May 1985,

1986/71 of 23 July 1986 and 1987/86 of 8 July 1987 con-

cerning the preparation of the system-wide medium-

term plan for women and development and the cross-

organizational programme analysis of activities related

to the advancement of women,

Concerned that many provisions of Commission on the

Status of Women resolution 1987/5 of 16 January 1987

relating to the preparation of the final draft of the

system-wide medium-term plan for women and devel-

opment are as yet unimplemented,

1. Stresses that the cross-organizational programme

analysis to be submitted to the Committee for Pro-

gramme and Co-ordination in 1989 should present a

comprehensive factual picture of the United Nations sys-

tem’s mandates and activities related to the advance-

ment of women, attempt a comprehensive diagnosis of

co-ordination problems and suggest remedial action;

2. Recommends that the activities analysed should in-

clude programme activities at the programme element

level, technical co-operation projects and regular pro-

grammes of technical assistance, grant-based develop-

ment ass is tance, and funding by in te rna t iona l

development-financing institutions;

3. Decides that the legislative mandates to be analysed

should include international instruments, intergovern-

mental resolutions and decisions, other legislative in-

structions, directives and guidelines, and international

strategies, plans and programmes of action relating to

the status of women that are still in force;

4. Further decides that the directions given by the Com-

mission on the Status of Women, in its resolution 1987/5

and the annex thereto, for the preparation of the final

draft of the system-wide medium-term plan for women

and development should be fully implemented.

Economic and Soc ia l Counc i l r e so lu t ion 1988 /60 C

27 July 1988 Meeting 39 Adopted without vote

Approved by Third Committee (E/1988/114) without vote, 15 July (meeting

8); draft by Commission on women (E/1988/C.3/L.1); agenda item 17.

Resolution 1988/60 D was also adopted with-

out vote.


Legislative linkage as a means of co-ordinating

the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking



Recalling paragraph 320 of the Nairobi Forward-looking

Strategies for the Advancement of Women, in which it

is stated that specific, appropriate attention should be

paid to the advancement of women in the preparation

of new instruments and strategies,

Welcoming the decision of the Governing Body of the

International Labour Office at its 238th session to place

on the agenda of the International Labour Conference

in 1989 the question “Night work”, as defined in the

Night Work (Women) Convention (Revised), 1948

(No. 89) and other relevant conventions,

Requests the Secretary-General to take the necessary

measures to ensure that specific action is taken to inte-

grate the concerns of the Nairobi Forward-looking

Strategies for the Advancement of Women into the ac-

tivities mandated by the General Assembly in the fol-

lowing resolutions: resolution 42/104 of 7 December 1987

on the International Literacy Year, resolution 42/106 of

7 December 1987 on the International Conference on

the Plight of Refugees, Returnees and Displaced Per-

sons in Southern Africa, resolution 42/163 of 8 Decem-

ber 1987 on the United Nations Programme of Action

for African Economic Recovery and Development 1986-

1990, resolution 42/177 of 11 December 1987 on the Sec-

ond United Nations Conference on the Least Developed

Countries, resolution 42/186 of 11 December 1987 on

the Environmental Perspective to the Year 2000 and Be-

yond, resolution 42/187 of 11 December 1987 on the re-

port of the World Commission on Environment and De-

velopment, and resolution 42/193 of 11 December 1987

on the preparation of the international development

strategy for the fourth United Nations development

decade.

Economic and Soc ia l Counc i l r e so lu t ion 1988 /60 D




National machinery

At its 1988 session, the Commission on the Sta-

tus of Women considered the issue of national ma-

chinery for moni tor ing and improving the s ta tus

of women as its priority theme in the area of equality.

A seminar on informat ion sys tems for the ad-

vancement of women for na t iona l machinery was

he ld (Vienna , 25 -29 January 1988) wi th suppor t

f r o m J a p a n .



S e c o n d C o m m i t t e e , t h e E c o n o m i c a n d S o c i a l

Council adopted resolution 1988/30 without vote.

National machinery for the advancement of women


Recalling General Assembly resolution 40/108 of 13 De-

cember 1985, in which the Assembly endorsed the

Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement

of Women,

Bearing in mind its resolution 1986/31 of 23 May 1986,

in which it requested the Secretary-General, inter alia,to propose guidelines for national machinery to promote

the advancement of women and ways to ensure the ef-

fective implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking

Strategies,

Recalling its resolution 1987/24 of 26 May 1987, in

which it recommended the convening of expert group

meetings to assist in the preparation of the work of the

Commission on the Status of Women on priority themes

and endorsed the topic entitled “National machinery

for monitoring and improving the status of women” as

one of the three priority themes of the thirty-second ses-

sion of the Commission,

Recognising that national machinery or its equivalent

is an essential element in the promotion and implemen-

tation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies and the

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimi-

nation against Women,

Bearing in mind the recommendations of the Seminar

on National Machinery for Monitoring and Improving

the Status of Women, held at Vienna from 28 Septem-

ber to 2 October 1987, and the Seminar on Informa-

tion Systems for the Advancement of Women for Na-

tional Machinery, held at Vienna from 25 to 29 January

1988,

1. Urges countries that have not yet done so to es-

tablish national machinery for the advancement of

women, or its equivalent, including such machinery at

the highest political level;

2. Urges Governments that have already established

such machinery or its equivalent to recognize its essen-

tial importance in the promotion and implementation

of national policies for the advancement of women, the


of Women and the Convention on the Elimination of

All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and there-

fore requests Governments to provide adequate politi-

cal, financial and human resources to enable such ma-

chinery or its equivalent to function effectively;

3. Encourage Governments, in accordance with their

own administrative systems, to make every effort in es-

tablishing or strengthening national machinery for the

advancement of women, or its equivalent, to do so, as

appropriate, on the basis of the recommendations of the

Seminar on National Machinery for Monitoring and

Improving the Status of Women and the Seminar on

Information Systems for the Advancement of Women

for National Machinery;

4. Stresses the importance, for Governments, of es-

tablishing and maintaining formal and informal mecha-

nisms for co-operation between national machinery or

its equivalent and specialized centres of responsibility

in sectoral departments and ministries, including mecha-

nisms to support greater co-ordination of efforts to pro-

mote the interests of women in both national and in-

ternational policies;

5. Calls upon Governments to develop information

systems that include statistics and indicators on the status

of women;

6. Invites national machineries or their equivalents

to exchange information, bilaterally and multilaterally,

on issues of common interest, including information on

innovative policies, programmes and. research;

7. Requests the Secretary-General, in co-operation

with the regional commissions, to promote such infor-

W o m e n 623

m a t i o n e x c h a n g e b y s u p p o r t i n g r e g i o n a l a n d

subregional meetings of national machineries or their

equivalents, using -resources from the regular pro-

gramme of advisory services for the biennium 1988-

1989 and from the regular budgets of the live regional

commissions thereafter, and by annually updating and

distributing the Directory of National Machinery for

the Advancement of Women;

8. Invites Governments of developing countries to

give priority, within the context of their overall re-

quests for development assistance, to proposals for as-

sistance to strengthen national machinery for the ad-

vancement of women or its equivalent;

9. Recommends that international development agen-

cies respond positively to requests from Governments

for assistance in strengthening national machinery for

the advancement of women or its equivalent;

10. Urges the national machinery for the advance-

ment of women or its equivalent in each Government

to participate actively in the preparation of and follow-

up-to the work of the Commission on the Status of

Women by co-ordinating the collection of all forms of

information for the comprehensive reporting system to

r e v i e w a n d a p p r a i s e t h e i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f t h e

Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies and report for ~ - the Commission’s consideration of priority themes;

11. Endorses the continuation of the information sys-

tem on women initiated by the Secretary-General and

its further development in official languages of the

United Nations, consistent with the priorities deter-

mined by Governments and taking advantage of all

sources of funding beyond those already mandated, in-

cluding the contributions of interested Governments;

12. Recommends that statistics and other information

on women be an integral part of all relevant major

statistical and public information programmes of the

United Nations system, including those of the United

Nations Office at Vienna and the Department of Pub-

lic Information of the Secretariat;

13. Recommends that the services of an inter regional

adviser be made available, through the regular pro-

gramme of technical co-operation, to assist, on re-

quest, national machineries or their equivalents in car-

rying out effectively their review and-appraisal of the

implementa t ion of the Nai robi Forward- looking

Strategies and in preparing the reports called for in

the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of

Discrimination against Women;

14. Decides that the questionnaire to be prepared by

the Secretary-General to collect information for the

review and appraisal of the implementation of the

Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies should contain a

s p e c i f i c s e c t i o n o n n a t i o n a l m a c h i n e r y o r i t s

equivalent;

15. Recommends that Governments make every effort

to support women’s non-governmental organizations

working to improve the status of women in accordance

with the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies and the

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Dis-

crimination against Women;

16. Calls upon Governments to ensure the effective

participation of women and women’s non-governmental

organizations in decision-making at all levels in order

to bring about a lasting improvement in the welfare of

societies.





Research and Training Institute

for the Advancement of Women

The Board of Trustees of the International Re-

search and Training Institute for the Advancement

of Women ( I N S T R A W ) he ld i t s e ighth sess ion a t

Santo Domingo , Dominican Republ ic , f rom 8 to

1 2 F e b r u a r y 1 9 8 8 .( 1 0 )

T h e B o a r d r e v i e w e d I N -

S T R A W 'S 1987 ac t iv i t i es and cons idered I N S T R A W

t r a i n i n g s t r a t e g i e s o n w o m e n i n d e v e l o p m e n t

( W I D ) ; n e w c o m m u n i c a t i o n t e c h n o l o g i e s a s a p -

p l ied to W I D ; the p roposed 1988-1989 I N S T R A W

programme budget; network building through co-

o p e r a t i v e a r r a n g e m e n t s w i t h G o v e r n m e n t s ,

U n i t e d N a t i o n s b o d i e s a n d n o n - g o v e r n m e n t a l ,

academic and women’s organiza t ions ; and fund-

ra i s ing .

In dec is ions i t adopted and brought to the a t -

ten t ion of the Economic and Socia l Counci l , the

Board s ta ted i t s in ten t ion to examine I N S T R A W

publications in depth for future policy guidelines

and ac t ion . I t recommended tha t p ro to type cur -

r icu la and teach ing mater ia l s on women and de-

velopment be developed. I t fur ther recommended

tha t I N S T R A W communica t ion fac i l i t i es and l ink-

ages wi th o ther Uni ted Nat ions informat ion sys-

tems be fur ther upgraded and expanded to aca-

demic institutions. The regional commissions were

requested to assist IN STRAW in establishing new

focal points and to co-operate with existing focal

p o i n t s a n d c o r r e s p o n d e n t s . T h e B o a r d r e c o m -

mended that IN STRAW and the regional commis-

sions jointly co-ordinate their strategies within the

s y s t e m - w i d e m e d i u m - t e r m p l a n f o r w o m e n a n d

development for the period 1990-1995 and convene

consu l ta t ions p r io r to the Board’s 1989 sess ion .

IN STRAW activities

Reporting on the Institute’s work in 1988, the

I N S T R A W D i r e c t o r s t a t e d t h a t t h e w o r k p r o -

gramme for the year had included 26 programmes

in research and t ra in ing on women and develop-

ment in five programmatic clusters: statistics, in-

d ica tors and da ta on women; i ssues re levant for

pol icy des ign; sec tora l i ssues , focus ing on in ter -

agency co-operation in the areas of drinking-water

s u p p l y a n d s a n i t a t i o n a n d n e w a n d r e n e w a b l e

sources of energy; training methods for WID; and

n e t w o r k b u i l d i n g . T h e D i r e c t o r n o t e d t h a t t h e

c lose in ter re la t ionship be tween the I N S T R A W re-

search, training and information programmes had

been further strengthened, thus contributing to the

expans ion of the 1988 work programme.

With in i t s p rogramme on s ta t i s t i cs , ind ica tors

and da ta on women, I N S T R A W organized three


training workshops: two national workshops (Bei-

jing, China, 2-8 June; Athens, Greece, 10-14 Oc-

t o b e r ) a n d a s u b r e g i o n a l w o r k s h o p f o r C e n t r a l

Amer ica (San José , Cos ta Rica , 5 -9 December ) .

IN STRAW began, in October 1988, implemen-

tation of the statistics component of the Economic

Commiss ion for Afr ica ( E C A ) pro jec t , funded by

t h e U n i t e d N a t i o n s D e v e l o p m e n t P r o g r a m m e

(UNDP), on improving African women’s role in

informal -sec tor product ion and management . I N -

S T R A W co-opera ted wi th E C A and the Economic

and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)

in implementing a study on the time-use of women

and developing statistics and indicators on the sit-

uation of women in the ESCWA region.

Under its programme on alternative approaches

t o w o m e n a n d d e v e l o p m e n t , I N S T R A W c o -

sponsored an international training seminar on

women and the economy, focusing on women

managers and entrepreneurs (Halifax, Canada,

25-28 July), and co-operated with the Society for

International Development in a conference on

poverty, development and collective survival: pub-

lic and private responsibilities (New Delhi, India,

March).

I N STRAW, in co-operation with the Bulgarian

Academy of Sciences (its focal point in Bulgaria),

organized an interregional consultative meeting on

women in co-operatives: implications for develop-

ment (Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 20-24 June).

Under the programme on the role of women

and new and renewable sources of energy, IN-

STRAW prepared, in collaboration with the ILO In-

ternational Centre for Advanced Technical and

Vocational Training (Turin, Italy), a multi-media

modular training package on women and new and

renewable sources of energy. The package con-

tained a pedagogical scheme, additional reading,

a bibliography, a lesson plan, key issue check-lists

for group work, a trainer’s guide and two evalua-

tion forms; it was supplemented with sound slide

packages and transparencies.

The IN STRAW training manual for women en-

trepreneurs and managers in industry was pre-

pared in collaboration with the United Nations In-

dustrial Development Organization.

The Institute prepared a training package on

women and development which was presented

during a joint training seminar with UNDP and

the United Nat ions Populat ion Fund (Santo

Domingo, 28 November-2 December).

I N S T R A W organ ized an in te rna t iona l consu l ta -

tive meeting on communications for women in de-

velopment (Rome, Italy, 24-28 October) with

financial support from Italy and the Fried rich

Eber t s t i f tung (Federa l Republ ic o f Germany) .

At the United Nations Pledging Conference for

Development Activities held in November 1988,

23 Member States pledged $1,199,364 to I N STRAW

for 1989. As at 31 December 1988, the balance of

t h e T r u s t F u n d f o r I N S T R A W a m o u n t e d t o

$1,685,933.



Council, on the recommendation of its Second


vote.

International Research and Training Institute

for the Advancement of Women

The Economic and Social Council,Recalling its resolution 1987/25 of 26 May 1987,

Recalling also General Assembly resolution 42/65 of 30

November 1987,

Having considered the report of the Board of Trustees

of the International Research and Training Institute for

the Advancement of Women on its eighth session,

Convinced that the programme activities of the Insti-

tute have helped to promote greater general awareness

of the linkages between research, training and informa-

tion in questions relating to women and development,

which is an essential prerequisite for bringing about de-

velopmental changes benefiting women and society,

1. Takes note with satisfaction of the report of the Board

of Trustees of the International Research and Training

Institute for the Advancement of Women on its eighth

session and the decisions contained therein;

2. Expresses its satisfaction with the work done by the

Institute in its innovative research on economic activi-

ties of women, particularly in the informal sector of the

economy, and with its flexible modular approach to

training, which strengthens national training capabili-

ties and should be further developed;

3. Takes note of the programme budget of the Insti-

tute for the biennium 1988-1989, approved by the Board

of Trustees at its eighth session, which is consistent with

the goals of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for

the Advancement of Women;

4. Recommends that the Institute, in keeping with its

statute, continue to co-operate with the organizations

of the United Nations system in the implementation of

its programmes and possibly implement research and

training projects within its area of competence funded

by the United Nations Development Programme;

5. Renews its appeal to Governments, intergovernmen-

tal and non-governmental organizations and other

potential donors to contribute to the United Nations

Trust Fund for the International Research and Train-

ing Institute for the Advancement of Women.




ing 9); 38-nation draft (E/1988/C.2/L.3); agenda item 11.

Sponsors: Argentina, Bahamas, Bolivia, Bulgaria. Chile. China, Colombia,

Costa Rica. Cuba, Cyprus, Dominican Republic. Ecuador, Egypt, El Sal-

vador, France, Greece, Guatemala. Guinea, Haiti, India, Indonesia. Italy,

Japan, Kenya, Lesotho, Mexico, Morocco, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Sene-

gal, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yugoslavia, Zaire.

REFERENCES( 1 ‘ )

YUN 1987 , p . 830 , GA r e s . 42 /62 , 30 Nov . 1987 .( 2 )

A/43/638. ( 3 )

YUN 1985, p. 937. ( 4 )

E/1988/4 & Corr.1.(5)

E/CN.6/1988/10. (6)

ACC/1988/PG/2. (7)

ACC/1988/15.(8)

E/AC.51/1988/2. (9)

E/1988/15/Rev.1. (10)

E/1988/28.

W o m e n 6 2 5

Women and development

Commission action. The Commission on the

Status of Women( 1 )

made a number of recom-

mendations concerning women in development

in resolutions it adopted on the system-wide co-

ordination of activities to integrate WID and on

rural women and development. Under the pri-

ority theme of development, the Commission

discussed the problems of rural women, includ-

ing food, water resources, agricultural technol-

ogy, rural employment, transportation and en-

v i r o n m e n t . I t h a d b e f o r e i t a r e p o r t o f t h e

Secretary-General,( 2 )

prepared in collaboration

with United Nations bodies and special ized

agencies whose work covered rural women,

which out l ined the current s i tuat ion of rural

women, indicated the limitations to improving

their conditions and suggested policy measures

to overcome those limitations.

UNICEF ac t ion . At i t s 1988 sess ion,( 3 )

t he

Executive Board of the United Nations Chil-dren’s Fund ( U N I C E F ) discussed a progress re-

port( 4 )

on achievements made in implementing

U N I C EF ’S policy on W I D , which the Board had

adopted in 1987.( 5 )

The report reviewed the

follow-up, implementation and field application

of the policy and recommendations for action to

s t rengthen U N I C E F ’ S commitment towards in-

corporating women into mainstream develop-

ment activities. Special orientation and training

was required to widen the expert ise of pro-

gramme staff in regional and country offices to

assist in monitoring and participate in field-work

of selected country programmes. Programme

officers specializing in WID issues were needed,

as was a personal commitment of senior manage-

ment , for which an accountabi l i ty system to

monitor programme implementat ion perform-

ance was recommended. The report stressed the

importance of organizing training workshops to

develop field staff perspectives and skills in areas

of operational methodology. The Board endorsed

the recommendations for action as proposed in

the report.( 6 )

UNDP action. In a March report with later ad-

dendum,(7)

the UNDP Administrator discussed the

way in which WID perspectives were reflected in

the work of UNDP. He also addressed other issues,

such as staff training, including the participation

of agencies and government representatives; com-

plementarity with the United Nations Develop-

ment Fund for Women (UNIFEM) (see below); co-

operation between the UNDP Division for WID

with relevant units of United Nations organiza-

mental organizations (NGOS); and the 1988 workplan.

On 1 July,( 8 )

the U N D P Governing Council ,

having considered the report of the Administra-

tor, noted an initiative taken by the Division for

WID to examine the feasibility of more gender-

responsive programming and asked the Adminis-

trator to submit a progress report thereon in 1989.

The Council encouraged the expansion and diver-

sification of the staff training programme and re-

quested information on its development in 1989.

It further requested the Administrator to report

in 1989 on the complementarity between the Di-

vision for WID, UNIFEM and IN STRAW and on how

WID perspectives were reflected in the work of

U N D P .

UNEP activities. The Senior Women’s Advi-

sory Group on Sustainable Development of the

United Nations Environment Programme con-

tributed to a workshop on women and environ-

ment for sustainable development (Bangkok, Thai-

land), held by the International Council on Social

Welfare, Asia and the Pacific.


On 26 July 1988, the Economic and Social

Council, on the recommendation of its Second


vote.

Rural women and development


Recalling its resolution 1987/24 and its decision1987/121. both of 26 May 1987, in which it endorsed thedecision of the Commission on the Status of Women

to consider problems of rural women as the prioritytheme under the objective of development at its thirty-second session,

Recognizing that the economic and financial crises thatare affecting most of the developing countries have se-verely affected the socio-economic status of women,

Bearing in mind the enormous burden on women en-gaged in food production,

Bearing in mind also that the majority of women in de-veloping countries are active in agriculture as farmersin their own right or as wage labourers in commercialagriculture,

Recognizing women’s limited access to and control ofagricultural resources, such as land, appropriate agricul-tural technologies, credit and training,

Recognizing that better health and sanitation are amongthe goals of development,

Bearing in mind that fetching water for domestic useis a major time-consuming task and primarily theresponsibility and concern of women,

Recognizing that education is the basis for improvingthe status of women,

Aware that the lack of education and training forwomen in developing countries reduces their socio-economic options, particularly employment opportu-nities,

Urges Governments:

projects exclusively designed for

tions, agencies, Governments and non-govern- 1.

(a) To undertakerural women;

626 Economic and soc ia l ques t ions

(b) To involve women in the design, planning and

implementation of such projects;

(c) To design projects to improve access to water sup-

plies and sanitation and to promote the development

of agricultural technologies and extension services for

women;

2. Urges Governments to provide women with ade-

quate education and training facilities to ensure their

access to equal employment opportunities;

3. Appeals to donor countries to increase aid and fel-

lowships to improve the status of women in developing

countries;

4. Requests the development agencies of the United

Nations system to pay particular attention in their pro-

grammes to the general role of women in rural devel-

opment, especially in the areas of food, water supply,

access to credit facilities and appropriate technologies;

5. Requests the Secretary-General to convene a semi-

nar on women and rura l deve lopment , us ing the

resources available in the Trust Fund for the Prepara-

tory Activities of the 1985 World Conference to Review

and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations

Decade for Women and drawing on the results of the

Interregional Seminar on National Experience Relat-

ing to the Improvement of the Situation of Women in

Rural Areas, held at Vienna from 17 to 28 September

1984 in preparation for the World Conference.





Updating the survey

on women in development

Pursuant to a 1986 request of the Economic and

Social Council,(9)

the Secretary-General submit-

ted to the Commission on the Status of Women a

report(10)

containing the first draft of an update of

the 1985 World Survey on the Role of Women in Develop-

ment.(11) The first draft elaborated material contained

in a 1987 report of the Secretary-General.(12)



Second Committee, the Economic and Social


Updating of the World Survey on the Roleof Women in Development in the light

of the deterioration in the status of

women in the developing countries


Considering that, in compliance with resolution 1986/64

of 23 July 1986, the Secretary-General submitted to the

Commission on the Status of Women, at its thirty-second

session, a first draft of the updated World Survey on the

Role of Women in Development,

Taking into account the fact that the preliminary assess-

ments of that survey and of other studies prepared by

specialized agencies and other organizations of the

United Nations system point to a deterioration in the

status of women in developing countries, which is ap-

parent in worsening working conditions, reduction in

income, declining or stagnating health services and

reduced access to education,

Considering that this deterioration, which is in marked

contrast to expectations for an improvement in the sta-

tus of women, makes it difficult to achieve the objec-

tives of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equal-

ity, Development and Peace and is becoming an obstacle

to the effective implementation of the Nairobi Forward-

looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women,

Reaffirming the need to examine in depth the role of

women in development, in particular the situation of

women in developing countries and the problems hin-

dering their advancement,

1. Recommends that in updating the World Survey on theRole of Women in Development particular emphasis be given

to those factors that contribute to the deteriorating sta-

tus of women in developing countries, namely:

(a) The economic crisis, including the problem of

external debt servicing, which has resulted in worsen-

ing working conditions, particularly in low-paying em-

ployment and in the informal sector of the economy;

(b) The long-term effects of the inability of certain

sectors of the economy adequately to absorb female

labour;

(c) The decline in women’s income, particularly in

agricultural regions;

(d) The gap that evidently exists between the income

levels of men and women;

(e) The long-term effects of the decline in the levels

of education, nutrition and health that is evident in a

large number of developing countries as a result of ad-

justment policies;

2. Also recommends that when preparing the updated

survey, the Secretary-General make a special effort to

adopt approaches that strike a balance between tradi-

tional viewpoints on adjustment policies and more in-

novative approaches that take into account the social cost

to women of adjustments arising from, among other

things, debt servicing;

3. Considers that in the updated survey attention

should be devoted to alternative policies for managing

the problem of external indebtedness in developing

countries, which might in turn help eliminate the cur-

rent obstacles to the achievement of the objectives of the


of Women.



Approved by Second Committee (E/1988/90) without vote, 18 May (meet-ing 14); draft by Commission on women (E/1988/15/Rev.1); agenda item 11.

Integration of women in

economic development programmes

In March, the ad hoc inter-agency meeting on

women(13)

(see above) recommended the organi-

zation of a joint activity with interested organiza-

tions to consolidate and simplify existing guide-

lines and check-lists concerning the issue of WID,

and that a review be carried out of existing guide-

lines for projects on the incorporation of WID, in

order to prepare a consolidated set of guidelines

for use by field staff, UNDP was to initiate the pro-

W o m e n 627

cess. In September,(14)

CCSQ (Operational Activi-

ties) ( O P S ) agreed to review, in 1989, the consoli-

da ted se t of guidel ines .


On 26 July 1988, the Economic and Social


Economic aspects of women in development



cember 1987 and the Nairobi Forward-looking Strate-

gies for the Advancement of Women, particularly para-

graphs 120, 137, 142, 147, 282 and 312 thereof,

Having reviewed annex I to the World Economic Survey 1988on selected indicators of the Socio-economic attainment

of women and taking into consideration the useful com-

ments made thereon,

Recognising the essential role of the economic activi-

ties of women in both the formal and the informal sec-

tors of the economies of all countries and the positive

role of women in promoting growth and development,

Convinced that further analysis of the economic activi-

ties of women in developing and developed countries is

necessary for the design and implementation of social

and economic policies,

Calls upon the Secretary-General to devote a separate

section in the World Economic Survey to the economic

aspects of the situation of women and their contribu-

tion to economic development, taking into account, inter

alia, their participation in the evolution of labour

markets.



5-nation draft (E/1988/L.33/Rev.1); agenda item 2.

Sponsors: Bulgaria. Canada, Greece, Nigeria, Poland.

Meeting numbers. ESC 28, 38.

By decision 1988/122 of 26 May, the Council

deferred until its second regular session consider-

ation of a four-part draft resolution (see above,

under “System-wide co-ordination”).

On 27 July, the Council, on the recommenda-

tion of its Third Committee, adopted resolution

1988/60 B without vote.

Intergovernmental co-operation to integrate

women effectively in economic

development programmes and activities


Bearing in mind its resolutions 1986/65 of 23 July 1986

and 1987/65 of 8 July 1987,


cember 1987,

Emphasising the central role of the Commission on the

Status of Women in promoting co-operation among in-

tergovernmental bodies to integrate women fully in eco-

nomic development programmes and activities,

1. Considers that intergovernmental co-operation in

the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking

Strategies for the Advancement of Women would be con-

siderably strengthened if each of the United Nations in-

tergovernmental bodies concerned were to include in its

agenda an item on activities for the implementation of

the Forward-looking Strategies within its field of com-

petence, in particular, activities concerned with monitor-

ing, technical co-operation, institutional co-ordination,

research and policy analysis, the participation of women

in decision-making, and public information, and trans-

mit its report on that agenda item to the Commission

on the Status of Women;

2. Decides that the reports requested in Economic and

Social Council resolution 1987/65 and decision 1987/182

of 8 July 1987 should first be submitted to the Com-

mission on the Status of Women at its thirty-third ses-

sion for consideration and then to the Council at its sec-

ond regular session of 1989;

3. Requests the Secretary-General to report on the

measures taken in 1986, 1987 and 1988:

(a ) To ensure coheren t implementa t ion of the

Forward-looking Strategies by central, regional and sec-

toral intergovernmental bodies of the United Nations;

( b ) T o h a r m o n i z e t h e i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f t h e

Forward-looking Strategies with all relevant United Na-

tions intergovernmental decisions and other interna-

tional strategies and plans and programmes of action;

4. Further requests that the reports referred to in para-

graph 2 of the present resolution be consolidated in a

single report structured according to the three aspects

of co-ordination defined in resolution 1988/60 A;

5. Recommends that, in the light of the importance of

the overall co-ordination of United Nations activities,

particularly between the units of the Secretariat in New

York and Vienna, provision continue to be made for the

Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Af-

fairs to maintain liaison in New York.

Economic and Social Council resolution 1988/60 B



8): draft by Commission on women (E/1988/C.3/L.1); agenda item 17.

Medium-term plan for women and development

ACC action. In March,( 1 3 )

the ad hoc inter-

agency meeting on women (see above) adopted two

recommendations on the system-wide medium-

term plan for women and development (1990-

1995). (15)

One recommended that organizations of

the United Nations system should continue to in-

corporate in their planning and policy documents

proposals consistent with the plan. The other dis-

cussed the preparation by ACC of an initial report

on the plan’s implementation.

C C S Q ( O P S ) , in April,( 1 6 )

noted that a l though

most of the activities in the plan would be under-

taken by individual organizations, there was con-

siderable scope for joint action, particularly in the

area of technical co-operation, training and advi-

sory services.

CPC consideration. In response to a 1987 re-

quest of the Economic and Social Council,(17)

the

Secretary-General submitted to CPC, in January

1988,(18)

a report proposing a general framework

and approach to preparing a cross-organizational

programme analysis (COPA) on the advancement

of women, to be reviewed by CPC in 1989. The

COPA was to be prepared as a monitoring tool for


implement ing the sys tem-wide medium-term plan

and would a l so incorpora te ac t iv i t i es re la t ing to

equa l i ty and peace .

In May ,( l 9 )

C P C conc luded tha t the Secre ta ry-

Genera l ’ s repor t p rovided a usefu l bas i s for the

C O P A, which would cover the main objec t ives of

the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies of equal-

i t y , d e v e l o p m e n t a n d p e a c e a n d e n c o m p a s s t h e

related priority themes of employment, health and

educa t ion .


O n 2 6 M a y 1 9 8 8 , t h e E c o n o m i c a n d S o c i a l

Counci l , by dec i s ion 1988/121 , dec ided to defe r

until its second regular session consideration of a

d r a f t r e s o l u t i o n , r e c o m m e n d e d b y t h e C o m m i s -

s ion on the S ta tus of Women,( 1 )

concerning the

sys tem-wide medium-term plan for the advance-

m e n t o f w o m e n .


C o m m i t t e e ! t h e C o u n c i l a d o p t e d r e s o l u t i o n

1988 /59 wi thou t vo te .

System-wide medium-term plan for the advancement

of women: equality, development and peace



cember 1985, in which the Assembly endorsed the


of Women,

Affirming the interrelationship of the objectives of the

United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Devel-

opment and Peace as regards the advancement of women

and their full integration in political, economic, social

and cultural development and that the objectives of the

Decade, in conformity with the Nairobi Forward-looking

Strategies for the Advancement of Women, should re-

main in effect in the operational strategies for the ad-

vancement of women to the year 2000,

Referring to the Convention on the Elimination of All

Forms of Discrimination against Women,


cember 1982, in which the Assembly proclaimed the

Declaration on the Participation of Women in Promot-

ing International Peace and Co-operation,

Bearing in mind paragraphs 311, 338 and 339 of the

Forward-looking Strategies, outlining measures to im-

prove system-wide co-ordination of activities for the ad-

vancement of women in the implementation of the

Strategies,

Recalling Commission on the Status of Women reso-

lutions 1987/1 of 16 January 1987 on participation of

women in promot ing in te rna t iona l peace and co-

opera t ion and prepara t ion of the Uni ted Nat ions

medium-term plan for the period 1990-1995 and 1987/2

of 16 January 1987 on women and equality and prepa-

ration of the United Nations medium-term plan for the

period 1990-1995,

Affirming its determination to give adequate attention

to all the goals of the United Nations Decade for

Women: Equality, Development and Peace,

1. Urges all United Nations bodies, including the

regional commissions, and the specialized agencies that

have not yet done so to develop and implement com-

prehensive policies for the advancement of women and

to incorporate them in their organization’s medium-

term plans, statements of objectives, programmes and

other major policy statements;

2. Requests the Secretary-General, in his capacity as

Chairman of the Administrative Committee on Co-

ordination and within existing financial resources, to in-

itiate the formulation of a system-wide medium-term

plan for the advancement of women, directed towards

the objectives of equality, development and peace, for

the period 1996-2001, taking into account the priorities

recommended by the Economic and Social Council, the

provisions of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for

the Advancement of Women and the views and deci-

sions of the governing bodies of the organizations of the

United Nations system, including the regional commis-

sions, on the content of the plan, as well as experience

in developing the system-wide medium-term plan for

women and development for the period 1990-1995;

3. Recommends all United Nations bodies, including

the regional commissions, and the specialized agencies

to take Commission on the Status of Women resolutions

1987/1 and 1987/2 into account in the implementation

of the system-wide medium-term plan for women and

development;

4. Requests the Secretary-General to report on the im-

plementation of the present resolution to the Economic

and Social Council at its first regular session of 1989,

through the Commission on the Status of Women.




10): draft by Commission on women (E/1988/C.3/L.1); agenda item 17.

Technical co-operation

In his annual report on United Nations techni-

c a l c o - o p e r a t i o n ,( 2 0 )

t h e S e c r e t a r y - G e n e r a l

described WID activities, particularly those of the

Department of Technical Co-operation for Devel-

opment ( D T C D ) . Tra in ing was emphas ized , wi th

another module added to the computer t ra in ing

package demonst ra t ing the impact of changes in

t h e r o l e a n d s t a t u s o f w o m e n o n t h e e c o n o m y .

D T C D m a i n t a i n e d c l o s e c o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h I N -

S T R A W i n t r a i n i n g , w h i c h w a s a l s o p r o v i d e d

through communi ty development pro jec ts . D T C D

provided seed money to f inance a programme on

water use and conserva t ion , which inc luded the

t ra in ing of t ra iners and the purchase of t each ing

m a t e r i a l s a n d e q u i p m e n t t o b u i l d a d e m o n s t r a -

t i o n v i l l a g e s a n i t a r y i n s t a l l a t i o n . F e l l o w s h i p s

awarded to women in the area of population rose

from 36 in 1987 to 58 in 1988. Under the United

Nations Educational and Training Programme for

Southern Afr ica , the percentage of women f rom

Namibia and South Afr ica rece iv ing scholarsh ips

was 54 per cen t and 44 per cen t , respec t ive ly .

An interregional seminar (Mali) focused on the

involvement of women in drawing up and manag-

ing water resources programmes. In other projects,

s p e c i a l c o m p o n e n t s w e r e d e s i g n e d t o i m p r o v e

W o m e n 6 2 9

traditional technologies and acquaint women with

ways of benefiting from ongoing development pro-

grammes.

The DTCD Task Force on Women focused on

the need to involve primary users-community

women in rural areas-at the planning stage as

well as during other phases of a project cycle.

UN Development Fund for Women

The Consultative Committee on the United

Nations Development Fund for Women met twice

in 1988, in New York, from 5 to 11 April and from

6 to 12 September. (21)

It approved the Fund’s

1988-1989 work plan, which featured the im-

plementation of two regional plans-the African

Investment Plan, including the development of

activities in the northern African States, and the

Participatory Action Plan for Latin America and

the Caribbean-and the development and im-

plementation of the Asia and Pacific Develop-

men t S t r a t egy , i nc lud ing p r epa ra t i on o f a

strategy for programming in Western Asia. The

work plan also included the replenishment of

two facilities, one for monitoring and evaluation

and the other for mainstream programming

initiatives.

In April,(22)

the UNDP Administrator submitted

to the Governing Council (see below) his annual

report on the operations, management and budget

of the Fund in 1987. The report gave an overview

of the management of UNIFEM, highlighting oper-

ational activities, and provided information on its

financial status.

In a report on the 1988 act ivi t ies of the

Fund,(21)

the Administrator stated that activities

carr ied out with organizat ions of the United

Nations included a mission to the Pacific, mounted

with the support of the UNDP office in Suva, Fiji.

The mission proposed a project for incorporating

women in national and project development plan-

ning and a strategy for executing it. In Mexico,

col laborat ion between U N D P, U N I F E M and I L O

r e s u l t e d i n a p r o p o s a l a i m e d a t e n h a n c i n g

women’s participation in an ongoing UNDP/

ILO/government project. In Argentina, a mission

resulted in the provision of financial assistance by

UNIFEM for activities to enhance women’s partic-

ipation in and benefits from a $20 million credit

project of the International Fund for Agricultural

Development and the Inter-American Develop-

ment Bank. In Guatemala, UNIFEM assisted in the

formulation of credit programmes to help women

producers who were often overlooked in large-scale

credit schemes. UNIFEM collaborated with the

World Bank in two joint missions.

Activities with intergovernmental organizations

included support for a regional conference of the

Southern African Development Co-ordination

Conference on women and food technology

(Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania, May 1988)

and preparation of a plan for co-operation between

UNIFEM and the Inter-American Institute for Co-

operation on Agriculture (San Jose, Costa Rica).

The Fund’s work with government and national

organizations focused on assistance to Zambia in

designing a strategy to incorporate the issue of

WID into the country’s five-year development plan

and recommendations to strengthen the Ministry

of Community Development, Culture, Youth and

Sports in the United Republic of Tanzania. In the

Phil ippines, U N I F E M supported the Nat ional

Commission on the Role of Filipino Women in

preparing a development plan for women. In

Guatemala, UNIFEM, in collaboration with na-

tional women’s organizations, helped to plan a na-

tional workshop on women, in preparation for a

subregional conference hosted by the Economic

Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

(September).

As to project support for developing innovative

and experimental activities benefiting women,

UNIFEM reviewed some 124 proposals, of which 38

were recommended for funding for a total of $4.9

million. Two specialty areas in which UNIFEM was

pioneering approaches dealt with women and food

cycle technologies and credit support systems.

At the November 1988 United Nations Pledg-

ing Conference for Development Activities, 32

countries pledged $4.7 million to UNIFEM general

resources for 1989. Total pledges were expected to

reach $7 million, a 23 per cent increase over the

previous year.

In October,(23)

the Secretary-General transmit-

ted the UNDP Administrator’s report on 1987 UNI-

FEM activities to the General Assembly.

U N D P C o u n c i l a c t i o n . O n 1 7 F e b r u a r y

1988,( 2 4 )

the UNDP Governing Council, taking

note of a report on UNIFEM( 2 5 )

containing

proposals for changing from full to partial fund-

ing, approved that change on the understanding

that financial and administrative issues arising

from it would be referred to the Council’s Bud-

getary and Finance Committee at its 1988 regu-

lar session. At that session (Geneva, 6 June-

1 July),(26) the Committee recommended that the

Council approve the implementation of the par-

tial funding system, effective 1988; decide that

UNIFEM should establish and maintain, on a fully

funded basis, an operational reserve of 45 per cent

of outstanding recommended project approvals

and unspent allocations; and request the Adminis-

trator to submit a report on the implementation

of the system in 1990.

On 1 July 1988,(27)

the Council took note of

the Administrator’s report on the operations,

management and budget of UNIFEM in 1987(22)

and i t s Feb rua ry dec i s ion ,( 2 4 )

a n d a d o p t e d


the recommendations of the Budgetary and Fi-

nance Committee.


On 8 December 1988, the General Assembly,

on the recommendation of the Third Committee,

adopted resolution 43/102 without vote.

United Nations Development Fund for Women


Reaffirming its decisions set forth in resolution 39/125

of 14 December 1984,

Emphasizing the catalytic role of the United Nations

Development Fund for Women in the United Nations

development co-operation system, with the goal of en-

suring the appropriate involvement of women in main-

stream development activities at the pre-investment

stages, and supporting activities directly benefiting

women in line with national and regional priorities,

Recognizing that the Fund’s dynamism lies in its flexi-

bility and the complementarity of its innovative and

catalytic priority roles,

Recognizing the initiatives of the Fund to assist national

machineries on women, planning and other relevant

ministries and intergovernmental organizations to inte-

grate the concerns of women and to ensure their involve-

ment in development programmes at all levels,

Noting the Fund’s regional priority frameworks and

its increased co-operation with regional and national de-

velopment banks and larger funds, through which crit-

ical resources have been leveraged for women in devel-

opment activities,

1. Takes note of the note by the Secretary-General,containing the report of the Administrator of the UnitedNations Development Programme on the activities of

the United Nations Development Fund for Women;

2. Notes the Fund’s continued co-operation with units

throughout the United Nations system concerned with

women and development, and with the planning and

sectoral ministries and the national machineries on

women in development of developing countries;

3. Stresses the importance of the continuous strength-

ening of the technical and financial capacities of the

Fund to enable it to preserve and augment its flexible

approaches to supporting activities at the national,

regional and global levels, including those of the regional

commissions and of the Division for the Advancement

of Women of the Centre for Social Development and

Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat;

4. Reaffirms the dual priorities of the Fund to serve

as a catalyst in respect of mainstream development ac-

tivities, as often as possible at pre-investment stages, and

to support innovative and experimental activities in line

with national and regional priorities, and recognizes the

forceful interrelationship between the two approaches;

5. Expresses its appreciation to Governments, non-governmental organizations and individuals that have

pledged and contributed to the Fund;

6. Notes with concern that the Fund’s resources havebeen insufficient to enable it to respond adequately to

the increasing number of requests received;

7. Commends national committees on the Fund and

non-governmental organizations for their initiatives in

the development of education and public awareness

programmes and resource mobilization on behalf of theFund;

8. Invites Governments, non-governmental organiza-

tions and others to consider making substantial contri-butions to the Fund;

9. Requests the Secretary-General to transmit to theAssembly at its forty-fourth session the report of the Ad-

ministrator of the United Nations Development Pro-

gramme on the activities of the Fund submitted pur-

suant to Assembly resolution 39/125.




ing 40); 5-nation draft (A/C.3/43/L.26), orally revised; agenda item 95.

Sponsors: Colombia, German Democratic Republic, India. Kenya, Norway.

Meeting numbers. GA 43rd session: 3rd Committee 15, 23-30, 36, 40: ple-

nary 75.

REFERENCES( 1 )

E / 1 9 8 8 / 1 5 / R e v . 1 . ( 2 )

E / C N . 6 / 1 9 8 8 / 4 . ( 3 )

E / 1 9 8 8 / 1 8 .( 4 )

E / I C E F / 1 9 8 8 / L . 1 . ( 5 )

Y U N 1 9 8 7 , p . 8 3 6 . ( 6 )

E / 1 9 8 8 / 1 8

(res. 1988/6). (7)

DP/1988/15 & Add.1. (8)

E/1988/19 (dec. 88/28).( 9 )

YUN 1986, p. 791, ESC res. 1986/64, 23 July 1986.( 1 0 )

E/CN.6/1988/7. ( 1 1 )

YUN 1985. p. 944. ( 1 2 )

YUN 1987.

p. 838. (13)

ACC/1988/PG/2. (14)

ACC/1988/14. (15)

YUN 1987,

p . 8 4 0 . ( 1 6 )

A C C / 1 9 8 8 / 7 . ( 1 7 )

Y U N 1 9 8 7 , p . 8 4 0 , E S C

(20)DP/1989/46.

(21)DP/1989/51.

(22)DP/1988/50 & Add.1,2.

res. 1987/86, 8 July 1987. (18)

E/AC.51/1988/2. (19)

A/43/16.

(23)A/43/643.

(24)E/1988/19 (dec. 88/6).

(25)YUN 1987, p. 842.

( 2 6 )D P / 1 9 8 8 / 7 8 .

( 2 7 )E / 1 9 8 8 / 1 9 ( d e c . 8 8 / 4 2 ) .

PUBLICATION

Improving Statistics and Indicators on Women Using Household Surveys

(ST/ESA/STAT/SER.F/48), Sales No. E.88.XVII.11.

Status of women

Commission on the Status of Women

The Commission on the Status of Women, at

its thirty-second session (Vienna, 14-23 March

1988),(1)

recommended 17 draft resolutions and

two decisions for adoption by the Economic and

Social Council. The resolutions dealt with: women

and children under apartheid; women and children

in Namibia; Palestinian women; women and peace

in Cen t r a l Amer i ca ; d i s c r imina t ion aga in s t

women; violence against women; international

peace and co-operation; rural women and devel-

opment; the system-wide medium-term plan for

the advancement of women; improvement of the

status of women in the United Nations system (see

PART S I X, Chapter II); programme planning and

activities to advance the status of women; system-

wide co-ordination of activities to advance the sta-

tus of women and to integrate WID; the Commis-

sion’s 1990 session; updating the world survey on

women and development; a reporting system to

monitor, review and appraise the implementation

of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies; enlarge-

ment of the Commission; and national machin-

W o m e n 631

ery for the advancement of women. The decisions

dealt with the provisional agenda for the Commis-

sion’s 1989 session and the mandate of the office

of the Co-ordinator for the Improvement of the

Status of Women in the Secretariat.


By decision 1988/122 of 26 May 1988, the Eco-

nomic and Socia l Counci l defer red unt i l i t s sec-

ond regular session consideration of a four-part

draft resolution (see above, under “System-wide

co-ord ina t ion”) .


C o m m i t t e e , t h e C o u n c i l a d o p t e d r e s o l u t i o n

1988 /60 A wi thou t vo te .

Co-ordinating role of the Commission

on the Status of Women

The Economic and Social Council,Convinced that it must play a more forceful and dynamic

role in reviewing and co-ordinating all activities of the

United Nations system relevant to women’s issues,

Referring to the reports of the Secretary-General and

the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination on co-

ordination matters pertaining to the status of women,

Considers that the central substantive co-ordinating role

of the Commission on the Status of Women in advanc-

ing the status of women and integrating women in de-

velopment has three distinct aspects:

(a) Intergovernmental co-operation, which relates to

action taken by the United Nations central, regional and

sectoral intergovernmental bodies to achieve a coher-

ent and complementary approach to implementing the


of Women within the United Nations;

(b) Inter-agency co-ordination, which relates to

measures taken by organizations of the United Nations

sys tem to co-ordina te the implementa t ion of the

Forward-looking Strategies;

(c) Legislative linkage, which relates to action taken

by the Commission on the Status of Women to link the

implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies to all

relevant United Nations intergovernmental decisions

and other international strategies and plans and pro-

grammes of action.

aE/1988/C.2/L.2.

E c o n o m i c a n d S o c i a l C o u n c i l r e s o l u t i o n 1 9 8 8 / 6 0 A




In May 1988, on the recommendation of its Sec-

ond Committee, the Council adopted decision


Enlargement of the Commission on the

Status of Women

At its 16th plenary meeting, on 27 May 1988, the Eco-

nomic and Social Council, recalling its resolution

1987/23 of 26 May 1987, in which it accepted, in prin-

ciple, the enlargement of the Commission on the Sta-

tus of Women and decided that the Commission at its

thirty-second session should consider proposals to that

end and submit them to the Council at its first regular

session of 1988, noting that the membership of the

United Nations had increased from 120 Member States

in 1966 to 159 Member States and that the Commis-

sion had not been enlarged proportionately, bearing in

mind the principle of equitable geographical distribu-

tion for the allocation of seats, considering that issues

related to women had grown in complexity and in num-

ber, particularly in the developing world, and recalling

its resolution 1988/19 of 26 May 1988, by which it

decided that the Commission should hold in 1990 a ses-

sion of extended duration to review and appraise pro-

gress in the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-

looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women,

decided:

(a) To take action on draft resolution XIII, entitled

“Enlargement of the Commission on the Status of

Women”, contained in the report of the Commission,

and the amendments proposed thereto,a at its first

regular session of 1989;

(6) To invite the Commission to offer its views on

the question of its enlargement, in the light of the fore-

going considerations and the discussions held during the

first regular session of the Council of 1988;

(c) To urge that, in the mean time, consultations

should be held with a view to assisting the Council in

its consideration of the issue.

Economic and Soc ia l Counc i l dec i s ion 1988 /125

A d o p t e d w i t h o u t v o t e

Approved by Second Committee (E/1988/90/Add.1) without vote, 23 May

(meeting 21): draft by Vice-Chairman (E/1988/C.2/L.12), based on infor-

mal consultations on draft by Commission on women (E/1988/15/Rev.1);

agenda item 11.

On 26 May, by decision 1988/123, the Coun-

cil took note of the Commission’s report on its

1988 session and approved the provisional agenda

and documentation for its 1989 session.

Role of women in society

In December 1988, on the recommendation of

the Third Committee, the General Assembly

adopted decision 43/425 without vote.

The role of women in society

At its 75th plenary meeting, on 8 December 1988,

the General Assembly, on the recommendation of the

Third Committee, having reaffirmed its profound con-

viction that all Governments, international organizations

and intergovernmental and non-governmental organi-

zations should pay due attention in their activities to

the importance of the role of women in society in all

its interrelated aspects-as mothers, as participants in

political, economic, social and cultural development and

as participants in public life-and recalling its resolu-

tions 39/123 of 14 December 1984, 40/101 of 13 Decem-

ber 1985, 41/110 of 4 December 1986 and 42/64 of 30

November 1987, decided to recommend that the Com-

mission on the Status of Women, during the considera-

tion at its next sessions of the priority themes under the

heading “Equality”, including “Equality in economic

and social participation” at its thirty-third session,

should consider the provisions of the Assembly resolu-

tions on the role of women in society, with a view to


formulating recommendations for appropriate action by

concerned United Nations organs and bodies, Govern-ments and intergovernmental and non-governmental or-ganizations.

General Assembly decision 43/425

Adopted without vote


ing 40); 15-nation draft (A/C.3/43/L.25); agenda item 95.

sponsors: Argentina, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Byelorussian SSR, Cam-

eroon, Cuba, German Democratic Republic, Kenya, Mongolia, Panama,

Rwanda, Viet Nam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Meeting numbers. GA 43rd session: 3rd Committee 15, 23-30, 36, 40; ple-

nary 75.

Women and peace

The Commission had before it a report of the

Secretary-General on access to information and

education for peace,(2)

one of the areas under the

priority theme of peace selected by the Economic

and Social Council in 1987.( 3 )

The Secretary-

General discussed women’s access to information

and education for peace and the role of women

in education for peace, including family and early

childhood development, formal education, society

and decision-making processes. He also described

the role of the United Nations in promoting the

participation of women in education for peace. He

concluded that women needed full access to infor-

mation and education, as well as knowledge of the

techniques for the non-violent resolution of con-

flicts. Special classes, courses and training semi-

nars could encourage women to develop their in-

terests in peace. The Secretary-General suggested

a number of issues for further research on the role

of women in the education of societies for life in

peace and activities to increase women’s partici-

pation in education for peace.





Participation of women in promoting

international peace and co-operation


Reaffirming the interrelationship of the objectives of theUnited Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Devel-opment and Peace,

Expressing the need for equal participation of women inall efforts to strengthen and maintain international peaceand security and to promote international co-operation,disarmament, the process of detente and respect for theprinciples of the Charter of the United Nations,

Referring to General Assembly resolution 37/63 of 3December 1982, by which the Assembly proclaimed the


ing International Peace and Co-operation,

Recalling that the World Conference to Review and Ap-

praise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade

for Women: Equality, Development and Peace, in adopt-

ing the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Ad-

vancement of Women for the period up to the year 2000,

emphasized that the main principles and directions forwomen’s activities aimed at strengthening peace, for-

mulated in the Declaration, should be put into practice,

Taking note of General Assembly resolution 42/61 of

30 November 1987, in which the Assembly invited the

Commission on the Status of Women to give adequate

attention to all the priority themes under the headings

of equality, development and peace in recognition of the

complexity of all the subject areas addressed in the

Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies and in other policy

documents, including the participation of women in

promoting international peace and co-operation,

Stressing that access to information, education for peace

and the eradication of violence against women within

the family and society are important for the implemen-

tation of the Declaration,

Welcoming the Treaty between the United States of

America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-range and

Shorter-range Missiles, signed in Washington, D.C., on

8 December 1987, as an important step in promoting

international peace and co-operation and a contribu-

tion to the creation of favourable conditions for the at-

tainment of the objectives of the United Nations Dec-

ade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace,

Noting that the third special session of the General As-

sembly devoted to disarmament will provide manifold

opportunities to support the participation of women in

all activities related to peace, disarmament and secu-

rity at the national, regional and international levels,

Wishing to encourage the active participation of women

in promoting international peace, security and co-

operation and the elimination of violence against women

within the family and society,

1. Urges the Commission on the Status of Women

to continue to give adequate attention to the implemen-

tation of the Declaration on the Participation of Women

in Promoting International Peace and Co-operation and

to the elimination of violence against women within the

family and society;

2. Appeals to all Governments to take practical in-

stitutional, educational and organizational measures to

facilitate the participation of women on an equal foot-

ing with men in activities related to peace, disarmament

negotiations and the resolution of conflicts, and to in-

form the Secretary-General of the activities that they

have undertaken at all levels to implement the Decla-

ration;

3. Invites Member States to use the third special ses-

sion of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament

as an occasion to support the full participation of women

in the establishment of conditions conducive to the main-

tenance of peace and to the elimination of inequality,

poverty and violence against women within the family

and society;

4. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the

General Assembly at its third special session devoted

to disarmament on programmes and activities under-

taken by the United Nations system relating to women

and peace, in particular those activities relating to the

implementation of the Declaration on the Participation

of Women in Promoting International Peace and Co-

operation and the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies

for the Advancement of Women;

5. AlsO requests the Secretary-General to take adequatesteps to ensure that publicity is given to the Declaration.

W o m e n 6 3 3






On 8 December 1988 , on the recommendat ion

o f t h e T h i r d C o m m i t t e e , t h e G e n e r a l A s s e m b l y

adopted reso lu t ion 43 /104 wi thou t vo te .

Participation of women in promoting

international peace and co-operation


Reaffirming the interrelationship of the objectives of the


opment and Peace,

Expressing the need for equal opportunity for participa-

tion by women in the decision-making process, includ-

ing that related to peace, disarmament and security at

national, regional and international levels, including the

United Nations system,

Reaffirming its resolution 37/63 of 3 December 1982,

by which it proclaimed the Declaration on the Partici-

pation of Women in Promoting International Peace and

Co-operation,

Recalling that the World Conference to Review and Ap-

praise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade

for Women: Equality, Development and Peace, in adopt-

ing the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Ad-

vancement of Women for the period up to the year 2000,

emphasized that the main principles and directions for-

mulated in the Declaration for women’s activities aimed

at strengthening peace should be put into practice,

Convinced that increased efforts are required to elimi-

nate still existing forms of discrimination against women

in every field of human endeavour,

Conscious of the need to implement the provisions of

the Declaration,

1. Pledges its determination to encourage the full partic-

ipation of women in the economic, social, cultural, civil

and political affairs of society and in the endeavour to

promote international peace and co-operation;

2. Appeals to all Governments to give publicity to the


ing International Peace and Co-operation and to take

practical institutional, educational and organizational

measures to facilitate the participation of women on an

equal footing with men in the decision-making process,

including that related to peace, disarmament negotia-

tions and the resolution of conflicts;

3. Invites all Governments, in accordance with Eco-

nomic and Social Council resolution 1988/28 of 26 May

1988, to inform the Secretary-General of their activities

undertaken at all levels to implement the Declaration;

4. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to take

adequate steps to ensure that publicity is given to the

Declaration;

5. Invites the Centre for Social Development and Hu-

manitarian Affairs of the Secretariat, the United Na-

tions University and other bodies within the United Na-

tions system to undertake activities that will further

involve women in the process aimed at strengthening

international peace and co-operation;

6. Decides to consider the further implementation of

the Declaration at its forty-fourth session under the item

entitled “Forward-looking strategies for the advance-

ment of women to the year 2000”.




ing 40); 20-nation draft (AIC.3/43/L.29), orally amended by Sweden;

agenda item 95.

Sponsors: Angola, Bulgaria, Byelorussian SSR, Cuba, Czechoslovakia,

Democratic Yemen, German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Iraq, Lao Peo-

ple’s Democratic Republic, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Madagascar, Mon-

golia, Nicaragua Poland, Romania, Syrian Arab Republic, Ukrainian SSR,

USSR, Viet Nam.


nary 75.

Women and peace in Cent ra l Amer ica


C o u n c i l , o n t h e r e c o m m e n d a t i o n o f i t s S e c o n d

Commit tee , adop ted reso lu t ion 1988 /20 wi thou t

vote.

Women and peace in Central America


Recalling that in adopting the Nairobi Forward-looking

Strategies for the Advancement of Women, the World

Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements


velopment and Peace recognized that women must par-

ticipate fully in all efforts to strengthen and maintain

international peace and security and to promote inter-

national co-operation,

Recalling also that the World Conference also recognized

that the situation of violence and destabilization in Cen-

tral America hindered the fulfilment of the Nairobi

Forward-looking Strategies, which were essential to the

advancement of women,

Taking note of the agreement on “Procedures for the

establishment of a firm and lasting peace in Central

America”, signed at the Esquipulas II summit meet-

ing, at Guatemala City, on 7 August 1987, by the Presi-

dents of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras

and Nicaragua,

Recognising the valuable contribution of the Contadora

Group and its Support Group to the process of bring-

ing peace to Central America,

Convinced of the exceptional importance to the peoples

of Central America, particularly the women, of achiev-

ing peace, reconciliation, development and social jus-

tice in the region, as well as ensuring their economic,

social, cultural, civil and political rights,

Considering that the General Assembly, in its resolu-

tion 42/1 of 7 October 1987, requested the Secretary-

General to promote a special plan of co-operation for

Central America,

Eager to encourage the active participation of women

in the promotion of peace and development in Central

America,

1. Expresses its gratification at the strong desire for peace

manifested by the Presidents of the Central American

countries in their signing of the agreement on “Proce-

dures for the establishment of a firm and lasting peace

in Central America”.

2. Calls upon the Presidents of the Central Ameri-

can countries to continue their joint efforts to achieve

peace in Central America, particularly the efforts aimed

at establishing the Central American Parliament, in

order to guarantee propitious conditions for the attain-


ment in the region of the objectives of the Nairobi


Women, and requests the international community to

support those efforts;

3. Urges all States to support the peace efforts, fully

respecting the principles of the self-determination of peo-

ples and non-intervention;

4. Also urges the international community to ensure

that programmes of technical, economic and financial

co-operation for the region take account of the particu-

lar needs and interests of Central American women;

5. Recommends to the Secretary-General that the spe-

cial plan of co-operation for Central America should in-

clude specific activities in support of the advancement

of women in the region;

6. Exhorts the Governments of the Central Ameri-

can countries and of the countries of the Contadora

Group and its Support Group to encourage and guar-

antee the full participation of women at all levels in the

search for peace, pluralism, democracy and comprehen-

sive development in the Central American region;

7. Urges national and international governmental and

non-governmental women’s organizations to participate

in and support actively the process of peace and devel-

opment in Central America.





Palestinian women

Pursuant to a 1986 request of the Economic and

Soc ia l Counc i l ,( 4 )

the Secre ta ry-Genera l submi t -

ted to the Commiss ion a repor t on the s i tua t ion

of Palestinian women living within and outside the

occupied Arab territories, ( based mainly on in-5 )

format ion rece ived f rom the Uni ted Nat ions Re-

l ie f and Works Agency for Pa les t ine Refugees in

the Near Eas t . The Secre ta ry-Genera l s t a ted tha t

the difficult living conditions of Palestinian women

indica ted the need for spec ia l a t ten t ion and as -

sistance. The assistance being provided to the Pal-

e s t i n i a n p e o p l e b y t h e U n i t e d N a t i o n s d i d n o t

f o c u s a d e q u a t e l y o n w o m e n ’ s n e e d s . T h e

Secretary-General suggested that the needs of the

Palestinian women should be ascertained through

specia l miss ions , and programmes of ass is tance

should be des igned to go beyond the de l ivery of

services.



C o u n c i l , o n t h e r e c o m m e n d a t i o n o f i t s S e c o n d

C o m m i t t e e , a d o p t e d r e s o l u t i o n 1 9 8 8 / 2 5 b y

recorded vote .

Situation of Palestinian women


Referring to the report of the Secretary-General on the

situation of Palestinian women living within and out-

side the occupied Arab territories,

Mindful of the humanitarian principles and provisions

of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of

Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949,

Recalling the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for

the Advancement of Women, in particular paragraph

260 thereof,

Noting with deep concern the escalating Israeli oppression

and ill-treatment of the Palestinian people, including

women and children in the occupied Palestinian terri-

tories,

1. Requests the Secretary-General to submit a com-

prehensive report on the situation of Palestinian women

and children inside and outside the occupied Palestin-

ian territories to the Commission on the Status of

Women at its thirty-third session;

2. Strongly condemns the application of an “iron-fist”

policy by Israel, the occupying Power, against Palestin-

ian women and their families in the occupied Palestin-

ian territories:

3. Reaffirms that the Geneva Convention relative to

the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War is ap-

plicable to territories occupied by Israel since 1967, in-

cluding Jerusalem;

4. Requests the Secretary-General, as a matter of ur-

gency, to send a mission composed of experts on the sta-

tus of women to investigate the situation of Palestinian

women and children, in the light of the recent tragic

developments in the occupied Palestinian territories;

5. Requests the Commission on the Status of Women

to monitor the implementation of the provisions of para-

graph 260 of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for

the Advancement of Women concerning assistance to

Palestinian women inside and outside the occupied ter-

ritories;

6. Reaffirms that Palestinian women, as part of a na-

tion whose people are prevented from exercising their

basic human and political rights, cannot participate in

the attainment of the objectives of the Nairobi Forward-

looking Strategies, namely equality, development and

peace, without the realization of their inalienable right

to return to their homes, their right to self-determination

and their right to establish an independent State in ac-

cordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions.


2 6 M a y 1 9 8 8 M e e t i n g 1 5 3 9 - 1 - 1 3 ( r e c o r d e d v o t e )

Approved by Second Committee (E/1988/90) by recorded vote (33-1-13), 13

May (meeting 9); draft by Commission on women (E/1988/15/Rev.1);

agenda item 11.

Recorded vote in Council as follows:

In favour: Bolivia, Bulgaria, Byelorussian SSR, China, Colombia, Cube,

Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, German Democratic Republic, Ghana, Greece,

Guinea India, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Lesotho, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya,

Mozambique, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Rwanda,

Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syrian Arab Repub-

lic, Trinidad and Tobago, USSR, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yugoslavia.

Against: United States.

Abstaining: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Fed-

eral Republic of, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom,

Zaire.

Women and children under apartheid

In accordance with a 1986 request of the Eco-

n o m i c a n d S o c i a l C o u n c i l ,( 6 )

t h e S e c r e t a r y -

General submitted to the Commission a report on

pol i t ica l and soc ia l developments concern ing the

situtation of women living under apartheid in South

Afr ica and in Namib ia .( 7 )

He a lso rev iewed as-

Women 635

sistance to South African and Namibian refugees.

The Secretary-General stated that black people,

particularly black women, in South Africa and Na-

mibia continued to suffer under apartheid, unable

to change conditions affecting their daily lives,

such as free movement and access to education,

employment and other basic services. Their situ-

ation deserved full international assistance from

Governments and NGOs. Although a considerable

effort had been made to provide assistance, it was

not sufficient to meet the growing needs.

The Economic and Social Council, by resolu-

tion 1988/23, urged Member States and United

Nations organizations to give effect to the Nairobi

Forward-looking Strategies that dealt with women

and children under apartheid. By resolution

1988/24, it called on women to support and as-

sist all bodies struggling to end colonialism in

Namibia.

(For details on women and children living under

apartheid, see PART TWO, Chapter I. For informa-

tion on the question of Namibia, see PART FOUR,

Chapter III.)

Violence against womenThe Commission had before it a report of the

Secretary-General on efforts to eradicate violence

against women within the family and society,(8)

one of the areas under the priority theme of peace

selected by the Economic and Social Council in

1987.(3) The Secretary-General reviewed interna-

tional concern on the issue, discussed the nature

of violence against women within the family and

society and surveyed efforts to eradicate violence

against women at the national, regional and in-

ternational levels. He made a series of recommen-

dations to eradicate violence against women,

among them, increasing public awareness; mak-

ing the issue a priority in relevant United Nations

agencies and bodies and other international and

regional organizations; reviewing and reformulat-

ing educational curricula to emphasize gender

equality, partnership, tolerance, mutual respect,

self-reliance and self-esteem; and organizing semi-

nars to help women speak out about the problem.





Efforts to eradicate violence against womenwithin the family and society


Recalling the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies forthe Advancement of Women, in which it was stated thatviolence against women was a major obstacle to theachievement of the objectives of the United Nations Dec-ade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace,

Cognizant of the fact that violence against women ex-ists in various forms in everyday life in all kinds of soci-eties and that concerted and continuous efforts are re-quired for its eradication,

Recalling also the relevant recommendations of the SixthUnited Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crimeand the Treatment of Offenders, the relevant observa-tions of the Seventh Congress and Economic and So-cial Council resolution 1984/14 of 24 May 1984 on vio-lence in the family, as well as section IV of Councilresolution 1986/10 of 21 May 1986 and General Assem-bly resolution 40/36 of 29 November 1985 on domesticviolence,

Recalling further the relevant provisions of the Interna-tional Covenant on Economic, Social and CulturalRights and the Declaration on Social Progress and De-velopment,

Taking note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General on efforts to eradicate violence against womenwithin the family and society and the views of the Com-mission on the Status of Women expressed during itsthirty-second session,

Noting and fully appreciating the efforts being undertakenby intergovernmental and non-governmental organiza-tions and researchers throughout the world,

Mindful of the need to continue and accelerate bothshort-term and long-term efforts already under way toeradicate the problem of violence against women,

1. Calls upon Member States to take the necessarysteps to give effect to the recommendations containedin the report of the Secretary-General;

2. Also calls upon concerned intergovernmental andnon-governmental organizations and researchers to con-tinue to consolidate their efforts and establish close col-laboration with the relevant units and organizations ofthe United Nations system in the eradication of violenceagainst women within the family and society;

3. Invites organizations and institutions dealing withthe various aspects of the problem of violence againstwomen within the family and society in such fields associal welfare, criminal justice, education, health andshelter, as well as research, to establish an internationalnetwork for co-operation to facilitate complementarityof action;

4. Requests the Secretary-General to pursue the im-plementation of the recommendations contained in hisreport and, in this regard, to ensure close collaborationbetween the Branch for the Advancement of Women andthe Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch ofthe Centre for Social Development and HumanitarianAffairs of the Secretariat and with intergovernmentaland non-governmental organizations and research in-stitutions concerned;

5. Also requests the Secretary-General to bring to theattention of the Committee on Crime Prevention andControl at its tenth session the relevant recommenda-tions of the Expert Group Meeting on Violence in theFamily with Special Emphasis on its Effects on Women,held at Vienna from 8 to 12 December 1986, so thatthe Committee may review them and provide guidanceon their implementation;

6. Further requests the Secretary-General to ensure thatadequate documentation on the issue of violence againstwomen within the family and society is prepared for theEighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention ofCrime and the Treatment of Offenders.


Economic and Social’ Council resolution 1908/27




Vio lence aga ins t de ta ined women

In accordance with a 1986 request of the Eco-

nomic and Social Council ,( 9 )

the Secretary-

General submitted to the Commission a report(10)

based on replies from Governments to his request

for their views on physical violence against de-

tained women specific to their sex. Replies were

received from 41 Governments and dealt with

legislative and other measures to prevent such

violence.

REFERENCES(1)

E/1988/15/Rev.1. (2)

E/CN.6/1988/5. (3)

YUN 1987, p 844,ESC res. 1987/24, 26 May 1987.

(4)YUN 1986, 802, ESC

res. 1986/21, 23 May 1986. (5)

E/CN.6/1988/8 & Corr.1.

ESC res. 1986/29, 23 May 1986. (10)

E/CN.6/1988/9.

Elimination of

discrimination against women

(6)YUN 1986, p. 801, ESC res. 1986/25, 23 May 1986.

(7)E/CN.6/1988/2.

(8)E/CN.6/1988/6.

(9)YUN 1986, p. 805,

Convention on discrimination against women

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimi-

nat ion against Women (CEDAW ), established

under the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of

All Forms of Discrimination against Women,(1)

held its seventh session in New York from 16

February to 4 March 1988.(2)

The Committee considered 11 initial reports of

States parties (Argentina, Australia, Dominican

Republic, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Mali, New

Zealand, Nigeria, Senegal, Uruguay) and two sec-

ond periodic reports (Hungary, Sweden) on legis-

lative, juridical, administrative and other meas-

ures they had adopted to give effect to the

Convention.

C EDAW adopted a general recommendation

stating that States parties should make more use

of temporary special measures, such as positive ac-

tion, preferential treatment or quota systems, to

advance women’s integration into education, the

economy, politics and employment. It also recom-

mended that States parties establish or strengthen

effective national machinery, institutions and

procedures to advise on the impact on women of

government policies, monitor the situation of

women comprehensively and help formulate new

policies and effectively carry out strategies and

measures to eliminate discrimination; take steps

to ensure the dissemination of the Convention,

their reports under article 18 and CEDAW reports

in the language of the States concerned; and in-

clude in their reports action taken in respect of the

recommendation. On the subject of resources,

CEDAW recommended to States parties that they

take measures to ensure that adequate resources

and services were available to it. A fourth recom-

mendation stated that States parties should take

further direct measures in accordance with arti-

cle 4 of the Convention to ensure the full im-

plementation of article 8 and to ensure to women

on equal terms with men and without any dis-

crimination the opportunities to represent their

Government at the international level and to par-

ticipate in the work of international organizations.

CEDAW also suggested that the Economic and

Social Council request the General Assembly to

approve eight additional meetings of the Commit-

tee in 1989 and provide it with the necessary

resources (see below).

Meeting of the States Parties. At their fourth

meeting (New York, 7 and 8 March 1988),(3)

the

States parties to the Convention elected 11 mem-

bers of CEDAW to replace those whose terms were

to expire in April 1988 (see APPENDIX III).

The States parties took note of reports submit-

ted in 1986(4)

and 1987(5)

on reservations to the

Convention and of views expressed thereon by the

General Assembly and the Economic and Social

Council. They endorsed an Assembly request of

1987(6)

that the Secretary-General provide a com-

pilation of relevant statistics from official United

Nations sources to assist CEDAW in considering

periodic reports. They requested the Secretary-

Gene ra l t o make ava i l ab l e , w i th in ex i s t i ng

resources, adequate and appropriate staff to as-

sist CEDAW and to take due account, when prepar-

ing the 1990-1991 programme budget, of the Con-

vention’s article 17, paragraph 9, by providing the

necessary staff and facilities for the effective per-

formance of the Committee.




Convention on the Elimination of All Forms

of Discrimination against Women


Recalling General Assembly resolution 34/180 of 18 De-cember 1979, by which the Assembly adopted the Con-vention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimina-tion against Women,

Taking note of General Assembly resolutions 42/60 of30 November 1987 and 42/105 of 7 December 1987 andrecalling Economic and Social Council resolution 1987/3of 26 May 1987,

Recalling in particular the decisions of the Fourth Meet-ing of the States Parties to the Convention on the Elimi-nation of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,

Having considered the report of the Committee on theElimination of Discrimination against Women on its Sev-

W o m e n 6 3 7

enth session, notably general recommendations 5, 6, 7

and 8 and suggestion 1 on ways and means of imple-

menting article 21 of the Convention,

Noting that the Committee agreed, in examining

reports, to take due account of the different cultural and

socio-economic systems of States parties to the Con-

vention,

1. Welcomes the ratification of or accession to the Con-

vention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimina-

tion against Women by an increasing number of Mem-

ber States;

2. Urges all States that have not yet ratified or acceded

to the Convention to consider doing so as soon as

possible;

3. Emphasizes the importance of the strictest compli-

ance by States parties with their obligations under the

Convention;

4. Takes note of the report of the Committee on the

Elimination of Discrimination against Women on its sev-

enth session;

5. Reaffirms the decision of the General Assembly,

in paragraph 9 of resolution 42/60, that no action should

be taken on decision 4 adopted by the Committee at

its sixth session;

6. Urges States parties to the Convention to make all

possible efforts to submit their initial reports on the im-

plementation of the Convention, as well as their second

and subsequent periodic reports, in accordance with ar-

ticle 18 of the Convention and the guidelines of the Com-

mittee;

7. Notes with satisfaction the efforts made by the Com-

mittee to rationalize its procedures and expedite the con-

sideration of periodic reports, and encourages the Com-

mittee to continue those efforts;

8. Notes with deep concern the problems encountered

by the Committee as a result of the lack of resources,

including technical and substantive support, and the

backlog of reports awaiting examination;

9. Requests the Secretary-General, in preparing the

proposed programme budget for the biennium 1990-

1991, to take due account of article 17, paragraph 9, of

the Convention by providing the necessary staff and fa-

cilities for the effective performance of the functions of

the Committee, in order to enable it to carry out its man-

date as efficiently as other human rights treaty bodies;

10. Recommends that the General Assembly at its forty-

third session consider the request made by the Com-

mittee for additional meetings, on an exceptional basis,

in order to advance consideration of reports already sub-

mitted to the Committee;

11. Also requests the Secretary-General, within exist-

ing resources and drawing, in particular, on funds avail-

able to the Department of Public Information of the

Secretariat, to provide for, facilitate and encourage pub-

lic information activities relating to the Committee and

the Convention, giving priority to the dissemination of

the Convention in the official languages of the United

Nations;

12. Further requests the Secretary-General to transmit

the report of the Committee to the Commission on the

Status of Women for information.Economic and Social Council resolution 1988/48


26-nation draft (E/1988/L.28), orally revised. and orally sub-amended by India;

agenda item 4.

Sponsors: Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark,

Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, German Democratic

Republic, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Rwanda,

Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yugoslavia.

Meeting numbers. ESC 12, 13, 16.

On 26 May, the Counc i l , on the recommenda-

tion of its Second Committee, adopted resolution


Elimination of discrimination against women

in accordance with the aims of the




Recalling General Assembly resolutions 42/60 of 30

November 1987 and 42/105 of 7 December 1987 and

Economic and Social Council resolution 1987/18 of 26

May 1987,

Taking note of the decisions of the Fourth Meeting of

States Parties to the Convention on the Elimination of

All Forms of Discrimination against Women,

Taking note of resolution 32/1 of 16 March 1988 adopted

by the Commission on the Status of Women in response

to the request contained in Economic and Social Council

decision 1987/112 of 6 February 1987,

Recalling the emphasis placed by the World Confer-

ence to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the


opment and Peace, on ratification of or accession to the

Convention on the Elimination of AU Forms of Discrimi-

nation against Women,

1. Welcomes the ratification of or accession to the Con-

vention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimina-

tion against Women by an increasing number of Mem-

ber States;


to the Convention to do so as soon as possible;

3. Urges States parties to the Convention to make all

possible efforts to submit their initial reports in accord-

ance with article 18 thereof and the guidelines of the

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against

Women;

4. Recalls the articles of the Convention that provide

the mandate of the Committee on the Elimination of

Discrimination against Women;

5. Welcomes the continuing efforts made by the Com-

mittee to rationalize its procedures and expedite the con-

sideration of periodic reports submitted in accordance

with article 18 of the Convention;

6. Recalls the role of the Committee pursuant to ar-

ticle 21, paragraph 1, of the Convention;

7. Notes with considerable concern the problems encoun-

tered by the Committee as a result of the shortage of

resources, including resources for technical and substan-

tive support;

8. Reaffirms that resources of the Branch for the Ad-

vancement of Women of the Centre for Social Devel-

opment and Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat

should be reinforced through various means, including

redeployment, in order to enable it to keep pace with

its increased work-load and to guarantee proper servic-

ing of all bodies concerned with the advancement of the

status of women that are assisted by the Branch;

9. Recognizes the special relevance of the periodic

reports of States parties to the Convention to the efforts

of the Commission on the Status of Women to review


and appra i se the implementa t ion of the Nai rob i


Women in those countries;

10. Recognizes also that all States Members of the

United Nations should take into account all relevant

documents when developing strategies to monitor and

evaluate progress in the advancement of women and

when formulating policies and programmes concerning

women at the national, regional and international levels;

11. Requests the Secretary-General to disseminate in-

formation on the Convention and its implementation,

with a view to promoting additional ratifications of or

accessions to the Convention;

12. Recommends that the Chairman of the Commit-

tee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

and the Chairman of the Commission on the Status of

Women each attend meetings of the other body;

13. Recommends that the meetings of the Committee

on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

be scheduled, whenever possible, to allow for the timely

transmission of the results of its work for information

to the Commission on the Status of Women during the

same year as the Committee’s session.




ing 14); draft by Commission on women (E/1988/15/Rev.1), amended by

Australia (E/1988/C.2/L.5) end further orally amended; agenda item 11.


On 8 December , the Genera l Assembly , on the

r e c o m m e n d a t i o n o f t h e T h i r d C o m m i t t e e ,

adopted resolution 43/100 without vote.




Bearing in mind that one of the purposes of the United

Nations, as stated in Articles 1 and 55 of the Charter,

is to promote universal respect for human rights and

fundamental freedoms for all without distinction of any

kind, including distinction as to sex,

Affirming that women and men should participate

equally in social. economic and political development.

should contribute equally to such development and

should share equally in improved conditions of life,

Having considered the report of the Committee on the


enth session,

Noting that the Committee agreed, in examining reports,

to take due account of the different cultural and socio-

economic systems of States parties to the Convention,

1. Takes note with concern of the declining rate of ratifi-

cation of or accession to the Convention on the Elimi-

nation of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

by Member States;


to the Convention to do so as soon as possible;

3. Emphasizes the importance of the strictest compli-

ance by States parties with their obligations under the

Convention;

4. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General

on the status of the Convention and requests him to sub-

mit annually to the General Assembly a report on the

status of the Convention;

5. Takes note of the report of the Committee on the


enth session;

6. Urges States parties to make all possible efforts to

submit their initial reports on the implementation of the

Convention in accordance with article 18 thereof and

with the guidelines of the Committee;

7. Takes note of the general recommendations adopted

by the Committee pursuant to its discussion at its sev-

enth session on ways and means of implementing arti-

cle 21 of the Convention;

8. Taker note with concern of the account by the Com-

mittee of the present constraints within which it oper-

ates and of the problems it has encountered as a result

of its lack of resources;

9. Welcomes the efforts made by the Committee to ra-

tionalize its procedures and expedite the consideration

of periodic reports and to develop procedures and guide-

lines for the consideration of second reports, and strongly

encourages the Committee to continue its endeavours

to those ends;

10. Decides to keep under review the Committee’s re-

quest for additional meeting time;

11. Requests the Secretary-General to make available

within existing resources the necessary staff and facili-

ties for the effective performance by the Committee of

Recalling its resolution 34/180 of 18 December 1979,

by which it adopted the Convention on the Elimination

of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,

Recalling also its previous resolutions on the Conven-

tion, in particular resolution 42/60 of 30 November 1987,

as well as Economic and Social Council resolutions

1988/26 of 26 May 1988 and 1988/48 of 27 May 1988,

Taking note of the decisions taken on 7 and 8 March 1988

at the Fourth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention,

Aware of the important contribution that the im-

plementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies

for the Advancement of Women can make to eliminat-

ing all forms of discrimination against women and to

achieving legal and de facto equality between women and

men,

Noting the emphasis placed by the World Conference

to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United

Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and

Peace on ratification of and accession to the Convention,

its functions;

12. Reaffirms that, to this end, the resources of the

Division for the Advancement of Women of the Centre

for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs of

the Secretariat should be reinforced through various

means, including redeployment, without prejudice to

the current allocation of resources to the United Na-

tions Office at Vienna;

13. Also requests the Secretary-General, in preparing

the programme budget for the biennium 1990-1991. to

take due account of article 17, paragraph 9, of the Con-

vention in providing the necessary staff and facilities for

the effective performance by the Committee of its func-

tions in order to enable it to carry out its mandate as

efficiently as other human rights treaty bodies;

14. Requests the Committee to continue to take into

account considerations of cost and effectiveness, as well

as other relevant matters, when determining where it

will meet;

15. Requests the Secretary-General to provide the

Committee with an assessment of the costs of holding

W o m e n 639

meetings at the United Nations Office at Vienna and

at United Nations Headquarters in New York based on

full servicing of the Committee, including attendance

by relevant professional staff from the Division for the

Advancement of Women, legal staff expert in human

rights treaty implementation and adequate secretarial

staff, and to transmit this information to the Economic

and Social Council at its first regular session of 1989;

16. Requests the Secretary-General, within existing

resources and drawing, in particular, on funds available

to the Depar tment of Publ ic Informat ion of the

Secretariat, to provide, facilitate and encourage public

information activities relating to the Committee and the

Convention, giving priority to the dissemination of the

Convention in the official languages of the United

Nations;

17. Also requests the Secretary-General to transmit the

report of the Committee to the Commission on the Sta-

tus of Women for information;

18. Further requests the Secretary-General to submit

to the General Assembly at its forty-fourth session a re-

port on the implementation of the present resolution,

and to transmit the report to the Commission on the

Status of Women at its thirty-fourth session.


8 December 1988 Meeting 75 Adopted without vote


ing 40); 30-nation draft (A/C.3/43/L.27/Rev.1); agenda item 94.

Sponsors: Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cube, Den-

mark, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, German Democratic Repub-

lic, Germany, Federal Republic of, Greece, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Mex-

ico, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Rwanda, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden,

Turkey, USSR, Viet Nam, Yugoslavia.


nary 75.

Ratifications, accessions and signatures

As at 31 December 1988, the Convention on the

Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against

Women had received 95 signatures and 95 acces-

s ions or ra t i f i ca t ions . Dur ing the year , the Con-

v e n t i o n w a s s i g n e d a n d r a t i f i e d b y S i e r r a

Leone.( 7 )

T h e S e c r e t a r y - G e n e r a l s u b m i t t e d t o t h e

General Assembly his annual report on the status

of the Convent ion ,( 8 )

conta in ing informat ion on

signatures, ratifications and accessions as at 31 Au-

gust 1988 and on reservations made from 1 Sep-

tember 1987 to 31 August 1988.

REFERENCES(1)

YUN 1979, p. 895, GA res. 34/180, annex, 18 Dec. 1979.(2)

A/43/38. (3)

CEDAW/SP/14. (4)

YUN 1986, p. 808. (5)

YUN

1987, p. 850. (6)

lbid., p. 785, GA res. 42/105, 7 Dec. 1987.(7)

Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the secretary-General: status as at

31 December 1988 (ST/LEG/SER.E/7), Sales No. E.89.V.3.(8)

A/43/605.

Advancement of women

Documents

Transcript of Advancement of women